Abstract
Mobile health (mHealth) platforms increasingly rely on interactive communication features, yet how users with different health literacy levels engage with these technologies remains poorly understood. This study examines how health literacy influences communication affordance perception in digital health platforms. Using topic modelling analysis of 681 consultation messages from a menopause mHealth app, we compared communication patterns between healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals as proxies for different health literacy levels. Results reveal that while both groups engage with core functional affordances (information exchange, scheduling, medication management), healthcare professionals employ knowledge validation and procedural verification affordances, using precise medical terminology and structured approaches; non-healthcare professionals utilize interpretive sense-making and emotional support-seeking affordances, engaging in active meaning-making and seeking psychological reassurance. These findings also provide empirical evidence for developing more inclusive mHealth platforms that accommodate diverse user communication styles rather than assuming uniform interaction patterns.
Recommended Citation
Guo, Mingyue and Liu, Na, "How Health Literacy Shapes Communication Affordances of
mHealth: A topic modelling approach" (2025). ACIS 2025 Proceedings. 142.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2025/142