Digital health literacy of persons with and without migration experience—a comparison of two cross-sectional surveys

Abstract

Goal: The ability to handle digital health information is becoming increasingly important. Previous studies show that digital health literacy (DHL) in Germany is low, differs greatly by social and demographic characteristics, and that migration experience (ME) could also be a relevant aspect. The aim of this article is therefore to compare the DHL of people without and with personal and parental ME. Methods: The analyses are based on data from two cross-sectional studies conducted in late summer 2020 including adult respondents without (n = 445), with personal (n = 770) or with parental (n = 257) ME, each with origin from Turkey or countries of the former Soviet Union. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. DHL is assessed with the HLS19-DIGI. In addition, age, gender, educational level, social status, health-related financial deprivation and the frequency of use of digital health information resources are considered. Results: Even after adjustment, respondents with parental ME have a significantly higher DHL than respondents with personal and without ME, whose DHL on average hardly differs. In some subgroups, respondents with personal ME even have a higher DHL than respondents without ME. DHL is consistently lower with less use of digital health information resources. However, overall, DHL is rather low and particularly low in old age. Conclusion: The results revise and differentiate the picture of older surveys, which showed lower health literacy among people with ME compared to people without ME. People with parental ME in particular have resources that make it easier for them to deal with digital health information.