Digital health literacy as mediator between language preference and telehealth use among Latinos in the United States

TL;DR

The study shows that digital health literacy helps explain why some Latino adults prefer using telehealth in English over other languages.

Contribution

This study identifies digital health literacy as a key factor linking language preference and telehealth use among Latinos.

Findings

Digital health literacy mediates nearly half of the telehealth use difference between English and non-English preferring Latino adults.

The findings highlight the importance of inclusive telehealth design to address linguistic and digital access barriers.

Abstract

Using 2023-2024 U.S. National Health Interview Survey data, we found that digital health literacy (dHL) mediated nearly half of the difference in telehealth use between Latino adults with non-English and English language preference. These findings identify dHL as a modifiable mechanism linking linguistic and digital access barriers, underscoring the need for multilingual, inclusive, and equitable telehealth design.

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