Technology use and its association with health and depressive symptoms in older cancer survivors

Lee, Hee Yun; Kim, Jeehoon; Sharratt, Monica

doi:10.1007/s11136-017-1734-y

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, technophilia was also strongly associated with health status and depression after adjusting for possible confounders such as gender, age, education level, and cognitive function. One longitudinal study conducted by Cotten et al [ 44 ] and other studies [ 45 , 46 ] have found that use of the internet and ICTs in older individuals is associated with less depression and a better quality of life, and there is some evidence that this association is mediated by loneliness and social isolation [ 44 , 45 ]. In conclusion, these results highlight the potential barriers of interventions for the use of ICTs, including smartphones and tablets, to improve the quality of life of people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Stages of Dementia and Their Caregivers: Cross-Sectional Study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Information and communication technologies are promising tools to increase the quality of life of people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment and that of their caregivers. However, there are barriers to their use associated with sociodemographic factors and negative attitudes, as well as inadequate knowledge about technologies. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze technophilia (attitudes toward new technologies) and the use of smartphones and tablets along with associated factors in people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment and their caregivers. Methods Data from the first visit of the Support Monitoring and Reminder for Mild Dementia (SMART4MD) randomized multicenter clinical trial were used for this analysis. Data were obtained from two European countries, Spain and Sweden, and from three centers: Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa (Catalonia, Spain), Servicio Andaluz de Salud (Andalusia, Spain), and the Blekinge Institute of Technology (Sweden). Participants with a score between 20 and 28 in the Mini Mental State Examination, with memory problems (for more than 6 months), and who were over the age of 55 years were included in the study, along with their caregivers. The bivariate Chi square and Mann-Whitney tests, and multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis. Results A total of 1086 dyads were included (N=2172). Overall, 299 (27.53%) of people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment had a diagnosis of dementia. In addition, 588 (54.14%) of people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment reported using a smartphone almost every day, and 106 (9.76%) used specific apps or software to support their memory. Among the caregivers, 839 (77.26%) used smartphones and tablets almost every day, and 181 (16.67%) used specific apps or software to support their memory. The people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment showed a lower level of technophilia in comparison to that of their caregivers after adjusting for confounders (B=0.074, P=.02) with differences in technology enthusiasm (B=0.360, P<.001), but not in technology anxiety (B=–0.042, P=.37). Technophilia was associated with lower age (B=–0.009, P=.004), male gender (B=–0.160, P<.001), higher education level (P=.01), living arrangement (living with children vs single; B=–2.538, P=.01), country of residence (Sweden vs Spain; B=0.256, P<.001), lower depression (B=–0.046, P<.001), and better health status (B=0.004, P<.001) in people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment. Among caregivers, technophilia was associated with comparable sociodemographic factors (except for living arrangement), along with a lower caregiver burden (B=–0.005, P=.04) and better quality of life (B=0.348, P<.001). Conclusions Technophilia was associated with a better quality of life and sociodemographic variables in people with dementia/mild cognitive impairment and caregivers, suggesting potential barriers for technological interventions. People with dementia/mild cognitive impairment frequently use smartphones and tablets, but the use of specific apps or software to support memory is limited. Interventions using these technologies are needed to overcome barriers in this population related to sociodemographic characteristics and the lack of enthusiasm for new technologies. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03325699; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03325699

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Stages of Dementia and Their Caregivers: Cross-Sectional Study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The National Health and Aging Trends Study incorporates measures of frequency and types of Internet use (Kasper and Freedman, 2017). Most Internet-use-related secondary analyses using these data report cross-sectional findings (Choi and DiNitto, 2013; Elliot et al, 2014; Gell et al, 2015; Kim et al, 2016; Lee et al, 2017), with few reporting longitudinal results (Levine et al, 2017). A supplemental survey of a subsample of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants who report regular Internet use also explores being online in greater depth over six waves of data collection, although questions were added and deleted with each iteration, making longitudinal comparisons difficult (Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 2016).…”

Section: Challenges Of Studying Older Adults’ Internet Usesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of Internet use among older adults

Hunsaker

Hargittai

2018

New Media & Society

538

342

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As the world population ages and older adults comprise a growing proportion of current and potential Internet users, understanding the state of Internet use among older adults as well as the ways their use has evolved may clarify how best to support digital media use within this population. This article synthesizes the quantitative literature on Internet use among older adults, including trends in access, skills, and types of use, while exploring social inequalities in relation to each domain. We also review work on the relationship between health and Internet use, particularly relevant for older adults. We close with specific recommendations for future work, including a call for studies better representing the diversity of older adulthood and greater standardization of question design.

show abstract

“…At all quantile levels discussed in this study, Internet usage can weaken the association between high income and less depressive symptoms, which means that individuals suffering income-related disparity of depression can relieve the symptoms via digital technology. Thus, SES or health disadvantaged groups can obtain better mental health outcomes via digital technology usage [16,20,33,36,38,47].…”

Section: Main Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does digital technology reduce health disparity? Investigating difference of depression stemming from socioeconomic status among Chinese older adults

Deng

et al. 2021

BMC Geriatr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Prior studies on health disparity have shown that socioeconomic status is critical to inequality of health outcomes such as depression. However, two questions await further investigation: whether disparity in depression correlated with socioeconomic status will become larger when depression becomes severer, and whether digital technology will reduce the disparity in depression correlated with socioeconomic status. Our study aims to answer the above two questions. Methods By using the dataset from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2015, we use quantile regression models to examine the association between socioeconomic status and depression across different quantiles, and test the moderating effect of digital technology. Results Our study obtains four key findings. First, the negative effects of socioeconomic status on depression present an increasing trend at high quantiles. Second, Internet usage exacerbates the disparity in depression associated with education level on average, but reduces this disparity associated with education level at high quantiles. Third, Internet usage reduces the disparity in depression associated with income on average and at high quantiles. Fourth, mobile phone ownership has almost no moderating effect on the relationship between socioeconomic status and depression. Conclusions Our findings suggest the potential use of digital technology in reducing disparity in depression correlated with socioeconomic status among middle-aged and aged individuals in developing countries.

show abstract

Technology use and its association with health and depressive symptoms in older cancer survivors

Cited by 26 publications

References 50 publications

Attitudes and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Stages of Dementia and Their Caregivers: Cross-Sectional Study

Attitudes and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Stages of Dementia and Their Caregivers: Cross-Sectional Study

A review of Internet use among older adults

Does digital technology reduce health disparity? Investigating difference of depression stemming from socioeconomic status among Chinese older adults

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About