Abstract:

Objective To develop the eHealth Literacy Self-rating Scale for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus，so as to provide an assessment tool for eHealth literacy assessment in diabetes patients. Methods An initial items of the eHealth Literacy Self-rating Scale were constructed through literature review and qualitative interview with diabetes patients. Then，two rounds expert consultations were conducted among 18 experts using Delphi technique to determine the items of the scale. Results Expert response rate in the first and second round was 100%（18/18） and 83%（15/18），the authority coefficient rate was 0.88 and 0.89. In the two rounds of expert consultation，the coefficients of variation of items were 0~0.52 and 0.05~0.13 respectively. The eHealth Literacy Self-rating Scale for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus consisted of 4 dimensions and 27 items. The 4 dimensions were functional eHealth literacy，communicative eHealth literacy，critical eHealth literacy and transformational eHealth literacy. Conclusion The eHealth Literacy Self-rating Scale for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus developed by Delphi method is highly reliable. It can be served as an assessment tool to evaluate the eHealth literacy level of diabetes patients.

Key words: Diabetes Mellitus, Health Literacy, Self-Assessment, Delphi Technique, eHealth literacy