Readiness to accept health information and communication technologies: A population-based survey of community-dwelling older adults

Abstract

Introduction: The development of health information and communication technologies (HICTs) could modify the quality and cost of healthcare services delivered to an aging population. However, the acceptance of HICTs-a prerequisite for users to benefit from them-remains a challenge. This population-based study aimed to 1) explore the acceptance of HICTs by community-dwelling older adults as well as the factors associated to the overall acceptance/refusal of HICTs; 2) identify the factors associated with confidentiality (i.e., access to data allowed to physicians only versus to all caregivers) in the subgroup of older adults willing to accept HICTs. Methods: A total of 3,195 community-dwelling 69-83 year-old members of the Lausanne cohort 65+ were included. In 2017, participants filled out a 9-item questionnaire to assess their acceptance of HICTs ("yes without reluctance"; "yes but with reluctance"; "no"). A bivariate analysis was conducted to examine gender and age differences in the acceptance of HICTs. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to model 1) accepting all or rejecting all HICTs items; 2) willing to share HICTs items with physicians only versus all caregivers. Results: The answer "acceptance without reluctance" ranged from 26.4% to 70.4% across HICTs and was the most frequent answer to six out of nine HICT items. For every HICT item, the acceptance rate decreased across age categories in women. Overall, 20.2% accepted all the HICTs without reluctance and 9.9% rejected them all. Older age and a lower level of education were significantly associated with both accepting all HICTs without reluctance (OR=0.78 and OR=0.65, respectively) and rejecting all HICTs (OR=1.54 and OR=2.89, respectively). Women and participants with health vulnerability (depressive symptoms, difficulty in activities of daily living (ADLs)) were less likely to accept data accessibility to non-physicians.

Psychological factors that affect the acceptance and need for ICT services for older adults with chronic diseases

“…Second, they had anxiety about their families relying too much on ICT services and consequently, reducing contact or visits. Prior researches have also pointed out that using ICT services may potentially replace human interactions and make older adults feel lonelier (Abolhassani et al, 2019). In this context, studies have also found that older adults feel isolation anxiety (Kirmizioglu et al, 2009), loneliness (Holmén & Furukawa, 2002), and boredom (Bantwal, 2016) in their daily lives.…”

Prevalence, Factors, and Association of Electronic Communication Use With Patient-Perceived Quality of Care From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey 5-Cycle 3: Exploratory Study

“…Similarly, a study of Health Information National Trends Survey 5 (HINTS 5)-Cycle 3 data in 2003-2005 indicated that only 10% of adult internet users communicated with the clinicians through web-based communication services [ 9 ]. Age can be a potential factor affecting the use of e-communication [ 13 , 14 ]. Clarke et al’s [ 14 ] study showed that young adults preferred text messaging, middle-aged adults preferred phone calls, and older adults preferred paper-based and in-person interactions with clinicians.…”

Using a Mobile Application for Health Communication to Facilitate a Sense of Coherence: Experiences of Older Persons with Cognitive Impairment

“…As the use of technology can facilitate an independent life in old age, users of technology need to possess adequate knowledge and skills (i.e., technological literacy (TL)) [ 1 ], encompassing the ability to interact with and understand technical products [ 2 ]. Older persons are increasingly using mobile technologies as communication tools, such as technology-based health communication (HC), which has been shown to assist in finding information [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Research on mobile assistive technologies used by older persons with cognitive impairment (CI) has found that tablets and smartphones may benefit such users but should be adapted to their needs [ 7 ].…”