Digital Health Literacy and Sport-Physical Activities: The Moderating Role of Age

Background: The present study extends understanding of digital health literacy by exploring issues that clarify how and when sport-physical activities enhance digital health literacy measured by four types of health-related information searched on the Internet i.e., general health information, information on a specific injury or condition, specific information on a medical treatment or procedure and information regarding second opinion after visiting a doctor. Methods: We employ Tobit model on the large European data (N=5,318). Results: We find support for direct relation between sport-physical activities and digital health literacy. In addition, we find that the effect of sport-physical activities on digital health literacy is reversed when interacted with age. Conclusion: This evidence is consistent with the view that sport-physical activities can be considered as an important tool for digital health literacy improvement but only under certain socio-demographic characteristics.