Literacy disparities in patient access and health‐related use of Internet and mobile technologies

Background Age and race‐related disparities in technology use have been well documented, but less is known about how health literacy influences technology access and use. Objective To assess the association between patients’ literacy skills and mobile phone ownership, use of text messaging, Internet access, and use of the Internet for health‐related purposes. Methods A secondary analysis utilizing data from 1077 primary care patients enrolled in two, multisite studies from 2011–2013. Patients were administered an in‐person, structured interview. Results Patients with adequate health literacy were more likely to own a mobile phone or smartphone in comparison with patients having marginal or low literacy (mobile phone ownership: 96.8 vs. 95.2 vs. 90.1%, respectively, P