Online patient–provider communication and healthy ageing: the roles of health literacy and health self-efficacy

eHealth involves using digital technologies, like electronic health records and telemedicine, to enhance healthcare delivery and outcomes. For older adults, eHealth helps manage chronic conditions, access services remotely, and engage in preventive health, improving physical and psychological well-being. This study investigates the association between online patient-provider communication (OPPC) and older adults' quality of life (QoL, i.e. sleep quality, exercise and psychological health). The study also explores how health literacy and health self-efficacy mediate the relationship between OPPC and QoL. This study utilized data from the National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey, collected in 2019 (HINTS 5 Cycle 3), specifically targeting individuals aged ≥ 60 (N = 2587). The associations among variables were analysed using structural equation modelling. OPPC was positively and significantly associated with health literacy (β = 0.53, p < 0.001). Health literacy was positively and significantly related to health self-efficacy (β = 0.02, p < 0.001). Health self-efficacy was significantly related to five dimensions of QoL: sleep quality (β = 0.20, p < 0.001), fruit and vegetable consumption (β = 0.13, p < 0.010), exercise (β = 0.59, p < 0.001), sedentariness (β = -0.58, p < 0.001) and psychological health (β = 0.24, p < 0.001). Besides, health literacy and health self-efficacy also mediated the influence of OPPC on QoL sequentially, being identificators as two serial mediators between OPPC and older adults' QoL. This study suggests that OPPC plays an important role in older adults' QoL.