The Relationship Between E-Health Literacy and Lifestyle Dimensions in Women Attending Health Centers in Mashhad, Iran

Background: With increasing access to the internet and social networks, women are recognized as active users in this space, and this can have a profound impact on their lives. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the relationship between lifestyle and e-health literacy in women attending health centers in Mashhad for usual care. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 322 women receiving usual care at health centers in Mashhad in 2023. The participants were selected using proportional stratified sampling method. The required data were collected using standard questionnaires on lifestyle and electronic health literacy. The data were analyzed using chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient tests in SPSS version 25.0. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.74±11.11 years. The mean lifestyle score was 150.51±25.53 (in the range of 61-210) and the mean score of electronic health literacy was 24.72±7.62 (in the range of 8-40). Statistically significant correlations were found between e-health literacy and psychological health (P=0.006), social health (P=0.005), drug abuse avoidance (P=0.02), accident prevention (P=0.001), and environmental health (P=0.001). Among lifestyle dimensions, the weight control and nutrition dimension were related to e-health literacy as a protective effect. Additionally, the two factors of drug avoidance and environmental health acted as the risk factors of e-health literacy. Conclusion: A statistically significant relationship was found between women’s e-health literacy and mean scores of lifestyle dimensions (psychological health, social health, drug avoidance, accident prevention, and environmental health). E-health literacy plays an important role in promoting a healthy lifestyle among women by providing easy access to health information as well as education based on modern technologies. The development of educational programs based on electronic technologies can help improve women’s health and quality of life.