Digital Health Literacy and Access to Health Information: A Bibliometric Study

Abstract

Introduction: In today's digital world, access to health information is reliant on digital literacy. With the rapid expansion of online health resources, individuals need digital skills to navigate, evaluate, and apply health information. Limited digital literacy can prevent people from finding reliable health information, using telemedicine services, and engaging with digital health tools. Our study aimed to analyze the impact of digital literacy on access to health information by systematically reviewing relevant literature. By identifying trends, key publication sources, and the growth of research in this field, the study seeks to highlight the evolving significance of digital literacy in healthcare and its implications for public health policy and practice. Materials and Methods: We evaluated articles published between 2012 and 2023 deposited in PubMed and Web of Science (WoS) databases. The search was undertaken by December 2024-January 2025 and included papers published up November 2024. The two databases were searched for relevant articles using search queries including the following key words: digital literacy and health access, digital technology use, and sociodemographic impacts. The search in WoS was assisted by research AI tool.  Articles without any of the searched keywords in their title or those not available in English were excluded. Duplicates were excluded considering the title of the article. Results: A total of 531 articles were identified, 511 in WoS and 24 in PubMed. After duplicate removal remained 341 articles (336 from WOS and five from PubMed). Title screening narrowed the selection to 166 relevant articles from 86 journals. Among these, 10.24% were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and 9.64% were published in BMC Public Health. Research on this topic began in 2012 (with 3 articles), but 89.76% of publications appeared since 2019, peaking in 2022 with 42 articles. Conclusion: Digital literacy is essential for equal healthcare access, but education and better policies are needed to bridge existing gaps. Future efforts should focus on improving digital skills, developing user-friendly tools, and adapting the HLS19 framework to enhance health literacy in Romania.