Development and internal validation of the Digital Health Readiness Questionnaire: Prospective Single-Center Survey Study

Multiple questionnaires exist to assess digital literacy. However, participation and adherence to digital health interventions is linked with other factors such as digital skills and access.
The aim of the development of the Digital Health Readiness-Q (DHR-Q) was to create a short, usable, and freely accessible questionnaire that was designed from a clinical practice perspective.
This was a prospective single-centre survey study conducted in Jessa Hospital Hasselt in Belgium. All participants who were visiting the cardiology department as patients were eligible for participation. Cronbach's α and confirmatory factor analysis were performed.
A total number of 315 participants were included in this survey study of which 118 (37.5%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 62.6 ± 15.1. Cronbach α analysis resulted in all domains of the DHR-Q scoring higher than 0.7 which means acceptable internal consistency. The fit indices of the confirmatory factor analysis showed a reasonably good fit: SRMR = 0.065, RMSEA = 0.098 (CI = 0.090–0.106), TLI = 0.895, and CFI = 0.912.
The new DHR-Q questionnaire is an easy-to-use and quick assessment tool for readiness for a Digital Health intervention. It was developed from a clinical perspective. This study demonstrates that the DHR-Q is a valid tool.