The Role of Sleep Adequacy in the Link Between Digital Health Literacy and Subjective Health

Background and Objective This study aimed to examine the association between digital health literacy and subjective health and to investigate whether sleep adequacy mediates this relationship among Korean adults.Methods The analysis draws on microdata obtained from the 2021 Digital Health Access and Individual Competence Factors Survey carried out by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS macro Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. Digital health literacy was specified as the independent variable, sleep adequacy as the mediator, and subjective health as the dependent variable. Sociodemographic and health-related variables were included as covariates.Results Digital health literacy was positively associated with sleep adequacy (B=0.0282, p<0.001) and subjective health (B=0.0326, p<0.001). Sleep adequacy was also positively associated with subjective health (B=0.1914, p<0.001). The indirect effect of digital health literacy on subjective health through sleep adequacy was statistically significant (B=0.0054), and the 95% bootstrap confidence interval did not include zero (95% confidence interval: 0.0030–0.0084), indicating partial mediation.Conclusions Adequate sleep emerged as a contributing pathway linking digital health literacy to individuals’ overall health perceptions. The results imply that when people are better equipped to navigate digital health information, their self-rated health can improve directly and also through healthier sleep patterns. To fully leverage these benefits, public health strategies that seek to raise digital health literacy should also include components that encourage and educate about maintaining sufficient sleep.