Digital health technology use among people aged 55 years and over: Findings from the 45 and up study

Digital technologies, including wearable activity trackers and smartphone applications, offer tools to support behaviours in healthy ageing interventions. This study aimed to describe utilisation patterns and correlates of digital technology use among middle-aged and older Australians.

We used data from 45 and Up Study 2019 follow-up questionnaire (originally 267,357 participants aged ≥45 years recruited 2005-2009). We considered three categories of digital technology use: broad digital technology use (e.g. computers, tablets), small portable devices (e.g. smartphones, smart watches, activity trackers), and digital applications to track health (e.g. step count, nutrition, medication). We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the associations between participants' sociodemographic, health status and behavioural characteristics with digital health technology use.

31,965 participants completed the 2019 follow-up questionnaire (47 % response rate), with a median age of 69 years (interquartile range: 63-76). Among participants, 87.0 % reported broad digital technology use, 34.9 % active use of small portable devices, and 29.8 % monthly digital application use to track health. For all three categories, digital technology use was significantly associated with relatively younger age (highest for 55-64 years), major cities, private health insurance, higher socioeconomic status, greater physical function, higher physical activity, higher fruit and vegetable intake, lower psychological distress, and lower red and processed meat intake. There were no associations between digital technology use and marital status, cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and depression/anxiety.

In this Australian cohort, digital technology use was highly common among participants aged 55 to 74 years, but reduced among those aged over 75 years. Targeted interventions leveraging digital technologies are warranted with the goal of advancing public health.