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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1455395

Digital Health Literacy and Use of Patient Portals Among Spanish-Preferred Patients in the United States: A Cross-sectional Assessment

Provisionally accepted
Lindsey M Philpot Lindsey M Philpot *Priya Ramar Priya Ramar Daniel L Roellinger Daniel L Roellinger Margaret A Mcintee Margaret A Mcintee Jon O Ebbert Jon O Ebbert
  • Mayo Clinic, Rochester, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP), including Spanish-preferred patients, face healthcare challenges due to language barriers. Despite the potential of digital health technologies to improve access and outcomes, there is a "digital divide" with underutilization among vulnerable populations, including Spanish-speaking LEP individuals, highlighting a need for increased understanding and equitable digital health solutions. Materials and Methods:A multi-mode, multi-language cross-sectional survey was built based on the Technology Acceptance Model and deployed from a multi-state healthcare practice. Measures included patient-reported comfort level with reading and speaking English, internet and computer access and satisfaction, ability to perform healthcare-related online tasks, and the eHEALS scale of digital health literacy. Results: A total of 212 Spanish-preferred patients completed the survey (response rate, 212/2,726=7.8%), of which 73.6% indicated lack of comfort in reading or writing in English (LEP n=156). Spanishspeaking individuals with LEP reported higher rates of needing help when learning how to use new technology or devices, reporting difficulty in the evaluation of health information on the internet and being able to differentiate high-quality information from low-quality online health resources, feeling confident in using health information found online to make health decisions, and having lower access to health-related online services than Spanish-speaking individuals without LEP. Discussion: Improving equitable accessibility to digital tools for individuals with LEP seeking healthcare can help to improve their engagement with their providers and promote self-efficacy in their care. Opportunities exist with emerging technologies to develop language-concordant healthcare resources that will improve outcomes for Spanish-preferred patients.

    Keywords: Patient portals, Digital Health, Technology acceptance model, digital health literacy, limited English proficiency, Spanish preferred

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 19 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Philpot, Ramar, Roellinger, Mcintee and Ebbert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lindsey M Philpot, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.