Electronic Health Literacy and Health-Related Quality of Life in Endometrial Cancer Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study

As oncology care increasingly relies on digital resources, electronic health literacy (e-HL) has attracted growing attention as a potentially modifiable communication competency in cancer survivorship. However, evidence on its relationship with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in gynecologic oncology remains limited. This study examines the association between perceived e-HL and HRQoL in women surgically staged for endometrial cancer (EC). In doing so, it extends an established body of evidence to an understudied clinical population. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 399 women at a tertiary referral center in Istanbul, Turkey. Perceived e-HL was assessed using the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), and HRQoL was measured using the EQ-5D-5 L index and EQ-VAS. Limited perceived e-HL was prevalent, affecting 44.6% (n = 178) of participants. After adjustment, higher perceived e-HL was independently associated with better HRQoL (p < .001). Inadequate perceived e-HL was associated with higher odds of reporting problems in anxiety/depression (OR 1.75; p = .010), self-care (OR 1.97; p = .004), and usual activities (OR 1.92; p = .005), but was not associated with mobility or pain. In conclusion, limited perceived e-HL was independently associated with greater psychological distress and functional difficulty in EC survivors. Because the design is cross-sectional and the proposed mediating processes were not measured, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal or mechanistic relationships.