Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40474165›Full record

ArticleBMC oral health2025

The relationship between eHealth literacy and oral frailty among older adults: the serial mediating effects of self-efficacy and oral health.

Jie Wu, Xin-Xin Wang, Min Xu, Kang-Ping Liu, Li-Ling Xu, Ying Zhang

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC oral health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jie Wu *Department of Nursing, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214000, Jiangsu, China.
Xin-Xin Wang *Department of Nursing, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214000, Jiangsu, China.
Min XuCenter for Community Health Care, China Hospital Development Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Kang-Ping LiuDepartment of Nursing, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214000, Jiangsu, China.
Li-Ling XuCenter for Community Health Care, China Hospital Development Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. llxu@shsmu.edu.cn.
Ying ZhangDepartment of Stomatology, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1111 XianXia Road, Shanghai, 200336, China. zhangying1686@163.com.

Funding

The Key discipline projects of the Shanghai Three-Year Action Plan for Public Health under Grant GWVI-11.1-29The Research Fund of the Centre for Community Health Care, China Hospital Development Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2024SQYL04
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOral frailty can cause many adverse consequences, including by impairing basic oral functions such as chewing and speaking; furthermore, it is closely related to overall systemic health. In the digital age, this study explores the relationship between eHealth literacy and oral frailty, alongside the mediating effects of self-efficacy and oral health on this relationship, providing theoretical support for eHealth-based oral frailty interventions.

methodsA multicentre, cross-sectional analysis was conducted from July to November 2024. A total of 636 older adults were recruited from Changning District, Shanghai, China. The eHealth Literacy Scale, the Geriatric Self-Efficacy Scale for Oral Health, the Oral Health Assessment Tool, and the Oral Frailty Index-8 were used to assess the participants’ eHealth literacy, self-efficacy, oral health, and oral frailty. Spearman’s correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among these variables. A structural equation model was used to analyse the mediating effects.

resultsThe study included 636 participants (55.7% female; median age: 70 years (IQR: 65–75)), whose median Oral Frailty Index-8 score was 5 (IQR: 3–6). Significant correlations were observed among eHealth literacy, self-efficacy, oral health, and oral frailty (P < 0.001). eHealth literacy directly affected oral frailty (β =-  0.161, 95% CI: -0.233, -0.085) via three mediating pathways: the self-efficacy pathway (β = -0.147, 95% CI: -0.188,  -0.107), the oral health pathway (β = -0.152, 95% CI: -0.222,  -0.100), and the serial mediation pathway via both self-efficacy and oral health (β = -0.105, 95% CI: -0.136, -0.081), which accounted for 26.0%, 26.9%, and 18.6% of the total effect, respectively.

conclusionseHealth literacy is negatively correlated with oral frailty, in which context self-efficacy and oral health serve as important serial mediating factors. It is essential for health care providers to focus on eHealth literacy among older adults and to support the development of age-friendly oral digital health technologies that require lower levels of eHealth literacy, thus improving the accessibility and equity of digital oral health technologies. This approach may serve as an effective intervention to prevent/delay oral frailty in older adults.

Indexed as

Frail ElderlyFrailtyHealth LiteracyOral HealthSelf EfficacyTelemedicineAgedChinaCross-Sectional StudiesDigital HealthFemaleHumansMaleeHealth literacyOlder adultsOral frailtyOral healthOral Health-Related Self-Efficacy

Identifiers

PMID40474165
PMCPMC12142902

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.