Improving eHealth Literacy of Older Adults in Hong Kong

April 28, 2026 updated by: Prof. Sophia Siu-chee Chan, The University of Hong Kong

Improving eHealth Literacy of Older Adults in Hong Kong: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study

This study is an randomized controlled trial (RCT) study to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of a community-based health promotion education intervention for improving the eHealth literacy of older adults

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background: Potential positive health outcomes were related to improved eHealth literacy. It is crucial to identify the population groups that may have low eHealth literacy. This eHealth literacy trail aims to design health promotion education intervention to improve the eHealth literacy of older adults in Hong Kong.

Study design: This RCT study will be conducted at the local non-governmental organization (NGO) centers in Hong Kong. Participants in the intervention group will receive a health promotion education program for improving eHealth literacy. The education program will be delivered through collaborative learning, including a 1.5-hour lecture and a 1-week digital intervention

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

93

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • China
      • Hong Kong, China
        • The University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 65 years old or above
  • Chinese speaking
  • Cognitively and mentally fit
  • Understand survey questions
  • Reported lower eHealth literacy scores (eHEALS < 26) in previous study
  • Smartphone user

Exclusion Criteria:

- All subjects have the right to withdraw if they wish not to continue

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Lecture on eHealth literacy and digital intervention
Participants in the intervention group will receive a health promotion education program for improving eHealth literacy. The education program will include a 1.5-hour lecture and a 1-week digital intervention
Behavioral: Lecture on eHealth literacy
There will be a lecture on eHealth literacy. The lecture will be delivered by one well-trained lecturer. , the lecture will be held for old adults in small groups, including a structured curriculum consisting of 4 parts: 5 minutes for the introduction, 40 minutes for the lecture and demonstration, and 40 minutes for hands-on session, 5 minutes for wrapping up. The contents covered in the 40-minute lecture were as follows: 1) smartphone internet basics; 2) introduction of the website prepared for this study; 3) evaluation of the credibility of online health information.
Behavioral: Digital intervention on eHealth literacy
1-week digital intervention, which are multiple messages about the lecture topic will be provided
Placebo Comparator: Lecture on general health and digital intervention
Participants in the control group will receive a health promotion education program about general health. The education program will include a lecture and a 1-week digital intervention
Behavioral: Lecture on general health
A lecture session that focus on the general health but not eHealth literacy will be provided
Behavioral: Digital intervention on general health
1-week digital intervention, which are multiple messages about the lecture topic will be provided

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
eHealth literacy
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
eHealth literacy score will be assessed with the 8-item eHealth literacy Scale (eHEALS) on a five-point Likert scale. The scale range from 8 to 40, higher scores means a better e-health literacy.
Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Health Knowledge Learning Intention
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
To measure the health knowledge learning intention, the three-item questionnaire were adopted and modified from existing studies. This is a five-point Likert scale ranging from 3 to 15, with higher scores means higher health knowledge learning intention.
Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Online Health Information Seeking
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Modified from the measurement adopted and revised from existing study, three-item questionnaire were used to test online health information-seeking behavior. This is a five-point Likert scale ranging from 3 to 15, with higher scores means better online health information seeking.
Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Online Health Information Scanning
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Three-item questionnaire borrowed from existing studies were developed to measure online health information-scanning behavior. This is a five-point Likert scale ranging from 3 to 15, with higher scores means better online health information scanning.
Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Health-promotion behaviors
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
To measure health-promotion behaviors, 24 questions were developed adopted from existing studies, which contains six dimensions (Exercise, Nutrition, Self-actualization, Interpersonal Support, Health Responsibility, Stress Management), with a 4-item sub-scale allocated to each dimension. For each sub-scale, this is a four-item Likert scale ranging from 4 to 16, with higher scores means better outcome in this dimension.
Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Health Decision Change
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention
Health Decision Change. Measurements of health decision change were adapted and modified from existing studies. A total of three items are developed to measure older adults' health decision change based on the health information acquired from their smartphones. This is a five-point Likert scale ranging from 3 to 15, with higher scores means greater health decision change .
Baseline, 2-week, 3- and 6-month after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The University of Hong Kong

Collaborators

Sino Group
NG TENG FONG Charitable Foundation

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 9, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 16, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 18, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • GCIEL

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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