eHealth Literacy Among Portuguese-Speaking Migrants: The Role of Length of Stay in Portugal

Abstract Background Although sharing the language of the host country, migrants from African countries with Portuguese as an official language face specific challenges in digital integration. The length of stay in the host country may influence their eHealth literacy, impacting access to health services and the promotion of health equity. Methods Descriptive, cross-sectional and exploratory study, applying the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (Norgaard et al., 2015) along with a sociodemographic and health characterization. Data were collected and processed from a sample of 101 participants from a migrant community, mostly from African Countries with Portuguese as an Official Language as their country of origin, fluent in Portuguese. Results The study population represented 17.7% of the total population, with a 95% confidence level and a 9% margin of error. The internal consistency for the full scale was 0.95, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.60 to 0.92 across the dimensions. Overall, eHealth literacy scores were mostly below the scale average. Participants residing in Portugal for less than one year showed significantly lower scores in the ‘Understanding of health concepts and language’ dimension compared to longer-term residents. Conclusions Findings indicate that, despite sharing the host country's language, migrants remain vulnerable in eHealth literacy, particularly in understanding health concepts. This underscores the need for targeted health interventions to support their digital integration in the host country. Key messages • Excluding the language factor, migrants still face significant challenges in eHealth literacy, particularly in understanding health concepts. • The length of stay in the host country influences migrants’ eHealth literacy levels, underlining the need for targeted digital integration strategies.