Access to health information allows people to take an active part in their health care. The internet is an increasingly popular way for people to obtain health information, but there are a number of barriers that prevent people making full use of such information. In particular, people may not be motivated to use the internet, or they may not have the skills that they need. This review assessed whether teaching people to find, evaluate or use online health information (online health literacy) improves those skills and improves their health.
Only two studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Both studies investigated the effect of adult education classes on the online health literacy of consumers. There is low quality evidence that these interventions improve aspects of online health literacy, specifically, regarding the outcomes 'self-efficacy for health information seeking', 'health information evaluation skills', 'number of times the patient discussed online information with a health provider' and 'readiness to adopt the internet as a tool for preventive health information'. No adverse effects were reported. As the study participants were, respectively, HIV-infected consumers, and people aged over 50, there is limited evidence on which to draw conclusions about the effect of these interventions on other population groups. More high quality studies on this topic are necessary.