Older adults' attitudes towards using technologies for communication, entertainment, health and productivity: a...

Technology is essential for advancing healthcare services by enhancing information availability and access. This is especially relevant to Singapore's rapidly ageing population. However, despite widespread smartphone ownership, usage of health-related applications remains low among older Singaporeans. Therefore, this study sought to investigate and understand key factors influencing older adults' attitudes towards technology, namely in health, communication, productivity, and entertainment.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Singapore through a self-administered face-to-face questionnaire. Data were collected from 380 adults aged 40 and above regarding attitudes towards different technologies in four domains: health, communication, productivity, and entertainment in July 2023. Participants' responses were then re-coded as having a positive or negative attitude, and chi-square tests were used to analyse across categorical variables. Multivariable logistic regression examined the association between attitude and age groups, adjusting for confounders.

Overall, respondents exhibited positive attitudes toward health technology (69.5%), communication (94.5%), entertainment (85.8%), and productivity (79.7%). Participants aged 75 and above exhibited lower positive attitudes, although they demonstrated notable positivity toward communication (74.6%) and entertainment (56.7%), as opposed to health (35.8%) and productivity (38.8%). Younger age groups (40-54 years) exhibited higher odds of positive attitude toward health technology (OR 7.69, 95% CI: 2.42-25.5), similarly for those with higher education (OR 6.0, 95% CI: 2.64-14.1) and larger families (OR 4.77, 95% CI: 1.54-17.2) after multivariable adjustment. Notably, positive attitudes toward health technology were consistently lower across all age groups compared to other domains. Within health technology, younger adults were more inclined to use medical services and health apps compared to older adults. Although younger adults utilised technology more for time-saving purposes (53% vs. 18%, P < 0.001), no age differences were observed for health monitoring (44% vs. 37%, P = 0.228).

More older Singaporeans were less positive towards health technology compared to technologies for communication, productivity, and entertainment. Increasing age remains the predominant variable, even after adjusting for confounders. Efforts to improve accessibility, usability, and perceived usefulness of health technologies may help enhance adoption among older adults.