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. 2020 Feb;39(2):141-150.
doi: 10.1177/0733464818807468. Epub 2018 Oct 24.

Older Adult Internet Use and eHealth Literacy

Thomas A Arcury  1 , Joanne C Sandberg  1 , Kathryn P Melius  1 , Sara A Quandt  1 , Xiaoyan Leng  1 , Celine Latulipe  2 , David P Miller Jr  1 , D Alden Smith  3 , Alain G Bertoni  1
Affiliations

Older Adult Internet Use and eHealth Literacy

Thomas A Arcury et al. J Appl Gerontol. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

We examine Internet use and eHealth literacy among older adults (aged 55+ years) who were patients at clinics serving low-income populations. Participants included 200 minority and White adults who completed interviews based on a technology acceptance conceptual model. A total of 106 participants (53.0%) used the Internet; utilization was associated with personal characteristics (age, ethnicity, education, poverty), computer characteristics (number of e-devices, computer stress), social support (marital status), and health knowledge and attitudes (health literacy, medical decision making, health information sources), but not health status. Of the 106 participants who used the Internet, 52 (49.1%) had high eHealth literacy; eHealth literacy was associated with computer characteristics (number of e-devices, computer stress), and health knowledge and attitudes (medical decision making, health information sources). In multivariate analysis, computer stress maintained a significant inverse association with eHealth literacy. Educational interventions to help older adults successfully use technology and improve eHealth literacy must be identified.

Keywords: digital divide; eHEALS; health literacy; health self-management.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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