Objective  To investigate current situation and influencing factors of e-health literacy among community chronic disease patients in Tai′an municipality of Shandong province for providing evidences to the improvement of e-health literacy in the patients.

  Methods  Using multistage random cluster sampling, we conducted a face-to-face questionnaire survey among 8 542 urban and rural residents aged ≥ 15 years in 6 prefectures/counties/districts of Tai′an municipality during August 2020. The E-Health Literacy Scale (e-HEALS) – Chinese Version and a self-designed general questionnaire were adopted in the study. The data on 4 232 residents suffering from chronic diseases were included in the analysis.

  Results  For all the chronic disease patients, the overall score of e-HEALS was 12.25 ± 8.93 and the overall score of the male patients was significantly higher than that of the female patients (13.47 ± 9.92 vs. 11.56 ± 8.25, t = 6.703; P < 0.001). The proportion of the all patients assessed with qualified e-health literacy (overall score of e-HEALS ≥ 32) was only 9.31% and the proportion was significantly higher in the male patients than that in the female patients (12.81% vs. 7.34%, χ² = 34.53; P < 0.001). The results of multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis revealed that for both male and female patients, those with the education of junior high school and above, having a self-rated rich household economic condition, and participating in physical exercise were more likely to have a qualified e-health literacy, while those aged 45 years and above were more likely to have an unqualified e-health literacy; the male patients living in urban regions were more likely to have a qualified e-health literacy and the female patients having a good self-rated physical health were more likely to have a qualified e-health literacy.

  Conclusion  Among community chronic disease patients in Tai′an municipality, the males have a higher e-health literacy than the females; age, education, a self-rated household economic condition, and physical exercise are common impact factors of e-health literacy for both male and female patients.