Karin Drixler

Photo by Karin Drixler, PhD scholarship holder in the Chronic Diseases and Health Literacy (ChEG) program

Portrait

Karin Drixler (BA, M. Sc.) has been working as a research assistant at the Freiburg University of Education in the Department of Public Health & Health Education on various projects since June 2017 after completing her Bachelor's and Master's degree in Health Education. Since October 2018, she has been teaching in the Bachelor's degree program in Health Education with a focus on evidence-based (digital) health information. Her research topics are: Assessment and questionnaire analysis, (digital) health literacy and web-based health interventions. She has been a full member of the German Network for Health Literacy (DNGK) since 02/2019 and an associate member of the doctoral program "Chronic Diseases and Health Literacy" (ChEG) since 05/2020.

Topic of the doctorate

Measuring and digitally promoting allergy-specific health literacy

The background

Around a third of adults in Germany have at least one allergic disease of the atopic type (such as hay fever, allergic asthma, neurodermatitis). Although there are good options for prevention and self-therapy for people with mild to moderate allergies, this target group is often not well treated. Digital evidence-based information and learning opportunities available online provide support for people with mild to moderate allergies.

Aim

The aim of the doctorate is to develop a multidimensional assessment tool for the systematic recording of allergy-specific health literacy and a digital intervention concept to promote allergy-specific health literacy with the involvement of the target group and to pilot this intervention.

Method

Qualitative (interviews and focus groups) and quantitative methods (psychometric modeling and mean value comparisons) are used.

Publications

Original work

Drixler, K., Morfeld, M., Glaesmer, H., Brähler, E. & Wirtz, M. A. (2020). Validation of the measurement of health-related quality of life using the Short-Form-Health-Survey-12 (SF-12 Version 2.0) in a German norm sample. Zeitschrift fur Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie [Validation of the Short-Form-Health-Survey-12 (SF-12 Version 2.0) assessing health-related quality of life in a normative German sample], 66(3), 272-286. https://doi.org/10.13109/zptm.2020.66.3.272

Lander, J., Drixler, K., Dierks, M.-L. & Bitzer, E. M. (2019). How Do Publicly Available Allergy-Specific Web-Based Training Programs Conform to the Established Criteria for the Reporting, Methods, and Content of Evidence-Based (Digital) Health Information and Education: Thematic Content Evaluation. Interactive Journal of Medical Research, 8(4), e12225. https://doi.org/10.2196/12225

Wirtz, M. A. & Drixler, K. (2019). Digitization in and as a subject of quantitative social research. In C. Dockweiler & F. Fischer (Eds.), ePublic Health (1st ed., pp. 93-106). Bern: Hogrefe vorm. Verlag Hans Huber.

Drixler, K., Luntz, E., Wiedemann, R., Lander, J., Schäfer, I., Schmitt, J., Dierks, M.-L. & Biter, E. M. (2018). What motivates patients with atopic diseases to search for information on the Internet? Results of a focus group study on expectations and requirements. Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift fur Dermatologie, Venerologie, und verwandte Gebiete, 69(10), 832-838. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00105-018-4241-3

Lectures/conference papers

Drixler, K., Wiedemann, R. & Nolte, Sandra, Osborne, Richard H., Kayser, Lars, Bitzer, Eva Maria (2020). Getting ready for the digital era in Germany: Adaptation of the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ). In ICCH 2020 online.

Drixler, K., Müller, K., Lander, J., Dierks, M. L. & Bitzer, E. M. (2019). 'My Allergy and Me' - Adaptation and Validation of a Self-Assessment Scale for the Assessment of Allergy-Specific Health Literacy. In Joint Annual Conference of the German Society for Medical Sociology (DGMS) and the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP) - The joint annual conference in Düsseldorf takes place with the participation of the MDK Nordrhein and the MDS (Das Gesundheitswesen ). Georg Thieme Verlag KG.

Drixler, K., Kuntz, L., Morfeld, M., Glaesmer, H., Brähler, E. & Wirtz, M. A. (2018). Criterial validation of the SF-12 to assess health-related quality of life in a German population-representative sample. In Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund (Ed.), 27th Rehabilitation Science Colloquium from February 26 to 28, 2018 in Munich - Rehabilitation moves! (DRV publications, volume 113, pp. 52-54). Berlin: DRV Bund.

Drixler, K., Luntz, E., Lander, J., Schäfer, I., Dierks, M.-L. & Bitzer, E. M. (2018). Patients with mild to moderate allergies: What triggers self-directed learning on the internet? A focus group study. In 16th International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) September 1-4 , 2018. Porto, Portugal.

Drixler, K., Wiedemann, R., Luntz, E., Lander, J., Dierks, M.-L. & Bitzer, E. M. (2018). Allergy-specific health information on the Internet - what motivates affected people to search and what requirements do they place on an Internet-based intervention? Results of a focus group study. In 54th Annual Conference of the DGSMP (Das Gesundheitswesen ). Georg Thieme Verlag KG.

Drixler, K., Wiedemann, R., Luntz, E., Lander, J., Schäfer, I., Schmitt, J. et al. (2018). E-health literacy for mild to moderate allergies: Impulses for information seeking and requirements of affected persons for internet-based interventions - a focus group study. https://doi.org/10.3205/18DKVF017

Drixler, K., Kuntz, L., Brähler, E., Glaesmer, H., Morfeld, M. & Wirtz, M. A. (2017). Criterial validation of the SF-12 to assess health-related quality of life in a German population-representative sample. In Annual Conference German Society for Medical Psychology (pp. 24-25).