Association Between Parental eHealth Literacy and Self-Reported Child Heat-Protection Practices: A Cross-Sectional Study in Türkiye

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Extreme heat events pose substantial health risks to children, who depend on their caregivers for protection. Although parents increasingly use digital health information, evidence on the relationship between parental eHealth literacy and heat-protection practices remains limited. This study examined the association between parental eHealth literacy and self-reported practices for protecting children from extreme heat. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 313 parents in Türkiye between August and September 2023 using convenience and snowball sampling. Data were collected using the Turkish eHealth Literacy Scale and a researcher-developed 33-item heat-protection practices survey. Descriptive statistics, exploratory item-level and dimensionality analyses, developmental sensitivity analyses, and regression analyses were performed. Results: Participants were predominantly female (85.3%) and university graduates (90.4%). The mean eHealth literacy score was 33.15 ± 5.25, and the mean heat-protection practice score was 137.74 ± 14.92. In this sample, 25.6% of parents reported that their children had become ill more frequently during the summer due to hot weather, and 49.8% reported increased heat-related household expenses. Higher parental eHealth literacy was associated with higher self-reported heat-protection practice scores (B = 0.993, SE = 0.151, β = 0.350, 95% CI: 0.697–1.290, p < 0.001). The unadjusted model explained 12.2% of the variance (R2 = 0.122). Exploratory psychometric analyses provided preliminary support for use of the 33-item aggregate score. Conclusions: In this exploratory analysis of a non-probability sample, higher parental perceived eHealth literacy was associated with higher self-reported heat-protection practice scores. Given the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-reported measures, these findings should be interpreted as an association rather than evidence of a causal effect. The model explained a modest proportion of the variance. Whether changes in eHealth literacy are associated with subsequent changes in heat-protection practices should be examined in longitudinal and intervention studies.