Randomised Trail to Test the Effects of a Short Video Intervention on Digital Health Literacy Skills

Abstract

Background: The internet and social media are popular sources of health information for the public. Consequently, there are growing concerns about the community's digital health literacy skills, which is their ability to appraise, understand and apply online health information. There is a knowledge gap of how to increase these skills using engaging formats that support effective understanding and use of online health information.   Aims: To test an online intervention to support younger Australian adults (18-39 years) critical appraisal of online health information and to investigate the most effective format.   Methods: Participants were randomised to receive the intervention via one of the three formats: (1) short animated video, (2) TikTok-style short video, (3) written-text, or to a control group. Participants completed an online survey pre and post intervention to assess improvement of digital health literacy and critical appraisal of online information.   Results: In total, 2124 participants completed the trial; 45% (n=951) identified as male, 54% (n=1,149) female and 1% (n=24) other. 50.4% (n=1,081) had no university education. Participants in the intervention arms (short animated video, TikTok-style short video, written-text) performed similarly on primary outcomes assessing digital health literacy skills. They scored significantly higher than the control group on digital health literacy measures (e.g. information evaluation score: control mean =1.63(SD 1.28) vs intervention mean =1.95(SD 1.18), p<0.001; author evaluation score: control mean =1.83(SD 1.35) vs intervention mean =2.25(SD 1.27), p<0.001).   Conclusion: Overall, the interventions were effective in increasing digital health literacy skills compared to control but showed few differences between formats.