Refined Analysis of Older eHealth Users From an Agency Perspective: Quantitative Telephone Interview Study.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Digital Health
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Traditional studies on the eHealth divide in older adults often focus on user vs. non-user comparisons, identifying age, gender, and education as barriers.
• These studies frequently offer a narrow view of eHealth practices and present conflicting findings regarding health conditions and eHealth use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively describe eHealth usage patterns among older adults.
• To investigate if demographic factors (age, gender, education) still correlate with eHealth clusters.
• To determine the association between contextual factors, such as health changes in users or their relatives, and older adult eHealth engagement.

Main Methods:

• A representative sample of 442 Israeli adults aged 50 and above participated in a 30-minute telephone interview.
• Factor analysis of 21 eHealth use questions identified four clusters: instrumental/administrative information seeking, information sharing, peer information seeking, and web-based self-tracking.
• Data collected included demographics, internet experience, eHealth literacy, self-rated health, and use of offline services due to health crises.

Main Results:

• The most common eHealth uses were seeking instrumental/administrative information (95%) and information from peers (78.7%).
• Web-based self-tracking was utilized by 69%, while uploading/sharing health information was less common (11.3%).
• Age, gender, and education were not significant predictors of eHealth use when controlling for other factors; internet experience, usage frequency, and perceived literacy were key predictors for most clusters. Seeking health information for family/friends predicted all clusters.

Conclusions:

• Older adults can overcome structural barriers (age, gender, education) to eHealth adoption.
• Motivations for eHealth use include seeking information for family/friends and managing unexpected health crises.
• Health professionals should encourage older adults to use eHealth, avoiding stereotypes and recognizing their agency in adopting digital health practices.