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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1542477

Validation of the Arabic eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ): a Factor and Rasch Analysis Study

Provisionally accepted
Walid Al-Qerem Walid Al-Qerem 1Osama N. Fadhil Osama N. Fadhil 1Anan Jarab Anan Jarab 2Alaa Hammad Alaa Hammad 1Fawaz Alasmari Fawaz Alasmari 3Rahaf Zidan Rahaf Zidan 1Judith Eberhardt Judith Eberhardt 4*
  • 1 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Amman, Jordan
  • 2 College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • 3 College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

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

    Amidst the rapid digitalization of healthcare, there is a need for tools that accurately assess eHealth literacy across cultural contexts. This study focused on the validation of an Arabic version of the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ), a tool to facilitate patient engagement and health outcomes in digital healthcare. Using a convenience sampling method, the study recruited a diverse sample of 657 participants from Jordan (58.9% females and 41.1% males). Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Rasch analysis supported a six-factor model and demonstrated satisfactory item performance within established thresholds. The findings revealed good internal consistency with Cronbach's α ranging between ranging between 0.71 to 0.84. Differential Item Functioning analysis indicated no gender-specific variations. The validated Arabic eHLQ is a reliable tool that can help in supporting the development of tailored interventions to improve healthcare delivery in Arabic-speaking regions.

    Keywords: eHealth, Health Literacy, Validation, confirmatory factor analysis, Rasch analysis, cultural contexts

    Received: 09 Dec 2024; Accepted: 28 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Al-Qerem, Fadhil, Jarab, Hammad, Alasmari, Zidan and Eberhardt. 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: Judith Eberhardt, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

    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.