To assess and explore the relationship between the health information (HI)-related attitudes and skills of patients with chronic disease in China.

A questionnaire was developed to measure the participants’ HI-related attitudes and skills. The study included all participants (N = 1671) undergoing routine physical examinations at the Health Management Centre, Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan province, from September to November 2013. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to assess the impacts of social demographic factors and chronic disease conditions on the patients’ HI-related attitudes and skills. Multiple linear regression and bivariate correlation analyses were adopted to explain the relationship between attitudes and skills.

The chronic disease patients clearly know that HI was valuable for their health, but their general HI-related skills were inadequate, particularly for elderly and undereducated patients. Additionally, the participants’ HI attitudes positively correlated with their HI-related skills (r = 0.47, p < 0.001). Because the attitudes ascended by grade (i.e. negative, moderate, and active), the HI-related evaluation, expression and comprehension, and seeking skills categories increased by 11%, 5.3%, and 8.4%, respectively.

Although the chronic disease patients held explicit and active attitudes towards HI, their skills were unsatisfactory. Attitudes and skills, however, present a positive relationship. These results suggest that training in HI-related skills should be the main goal of health literacy promotion in patients who suffer from long-term chronic diseases, particularly elderly and undereducated patients. However, cultivating an active attitude towards HI is important to improve HI-related skills.