Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 4:8:20552076221133695.
doi: 10.1177/20552076221133695. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

Smartphones and telemedicine for older people in China: Opportunities and challenges

Chi Zhang  1
Affiliations

Smartphones and telemedicine for older people in China: Opportunities and challenges

Chi Zhang. Digit Health. .

Abstract

The development of 5G technology has brought major advances and diverse challenges in healthcare services for older people, and access to equitable telemedicine is a high priority. Smartphones are most commonly used device to access the internet and bring the convenience of telemedicine to the user's fingertips. In the period where aging and informatization coexist in China, the role of smartphones in their daily lives, long-term care, and future opportunities and challenges needs serious reconsideration. We provide the latest evidence of smartphone use among the older adults of China and expound on issues about fairness in accessing mobile health, the substantial digital divide, and potential drawbacks of problematic smartphone use.

Keywords: 5G technology; COVID-19; Smartphones; older people; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

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

References

    1. Chinese Internet Network Information Center. The 49th statistical report on internet development in China. 2021 [cited Aug 30, 2022]. Available from: https://www.cnnic.net.cn/hlwfzyj/.
    1. Wang T, Jia F. The impact of health QR code system on older people in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Age Ageing 2021; 50: 55–56. - PMC - PubMed
    1. The Global Mobile Market Report 2021. 2021 [cited Aug 30, 2022]. Available from: https://newzoo.com/products/reports.
    1. Zhou XF, Chen L. Digital health care in China and access for older people. Lancet Public Health 2021; 6: e873–e874. - PubMed
    1. Chung K, Kim S, Lee Eet al. et al. Mobile app use for insomnia self-management in urban community-dwelling older Korean adults: retrospective intervention study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2020; 8: e17755. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources