Do Patients Need New Digital Skills for Health 4.0?

Hungary exhibits suboptimal health behaviors compared to the European Union average, including elevated smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity rates, contributing to reduced life expectancy largely due to cardiovascular diseases. Digital health interventions (DHIs) offer promising avenues to improve healthcare access, prevention, and treatment adherence, particularly for middle-aged and older populations. As healthcare digitalization accelerates, digital readiness (DR) and related competencies have become increasingly important. Research aim: This study aims to assess the digital readiness of Hungarian adults aged 40 and older and examine its associations with sociodemographic factors, eHealth literacy (eHL), and attitudes toward healthcare robotics and electronic health data sharing. Methodology: A quantitative survey using computer-assisted web interviews (CAWI) was conducted in May 2024 with a nationally representative sample of 200 respondents stratified by age, gender, and region. Results: Participants were segmented into low, average, and high DR groups to explore variations in their engagement with DHIs, eHL levels, and attitudes toward emerging digital health technologies. Results indicate that women (21.2 %) and individuals with chronic conditions (21.7 %) were significantly more likely to fall into the high DR category than men (10.9 %) and those without chronic conditions (6.3 %) ($p=0.013$ and $p<0.001$, respectively). Higher DR was positively associated with stronger eHealth literacy, while no significant relationship was observed with attitudes toward healthcare robotics. DR levels influenced willingness to share health data online, with high DR individuals demonstrating greater openness. Trust in healthcare institutions and university research centers was highest among participants with elevated DR. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of promoting digital competencies and eHealth literacy to enhance equitable access and effective engagement with DHIs. Further research is needed to address barriers to digital inclusion and optimize data-sharing practices in the evolving digital health landscape.