title: Measuring the effects of online health information: Scale validation for the e-Health Impact Questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Health-related websites have developed to be much more than information sites: they are used to exchange experiences and find support as well as information and advice. This paper documents the development of a tool to compare the potential consequences and experiences a person may encounter when using health-related websites.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire items were developed following a review of relevant literature and qualitative secondary analysis of interviews relating to experiences of health. Item reduction steps were performed on pilot survey data (n=167). Tests of validity and reliability were subsequently performed (n=170) to determine the psychometric properties of the questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two independent item pools entered psychometric testing: (1) Items relating to general views of using the internet in relation to health and, (2) Items relating to the consequences of using a specific health-related website. Identified sub-scales were found to have high construct validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analyses confirmed good psychometric properties in the eHIQ-Part 1 (11 items) and the eHIQ-Part 2 (26 items).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This tool will facilitate the measurement of the potential consequences of using websites containing different types of material (scientific facts and figures, blogs, experiences, images) across a range of health conditions.
authors.affiliation: The Nuffield Department of Population Health and the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, UK. Electronic address: laura.kelly@dph.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: The Nuffield Department of Population Health and the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ziebland
authors.affiliation: The Nuffield Department of Population Health and the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Crispin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jenkinson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Exploratory factor analysis; Information; Patients’ experiences; Psychometric; e-Health