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Open Access 01-12-2024 | Research

The impact of internet use on health among older adults in China: a nationally representative study

Authors: Yanyan Zhou, Yang Bai, Jun Wang

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2024

Abstract

Background and objectives

Aging poses a significant challenge worldwide, with China’s aging status becoming particularly severe. What is the impact of Internet use on the health of the elderly? Existing studies have drawn conflicting conclusions that Internet use improves or harms health. The purpose of this study was to explore how Internet use affects the health of older adults, and the mechanisms and heterogeneity of these effects.

Research design and methods

Based on Grossman’s theory, this paper constructs a health production function model. Using the data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2014 to 2020, we investigated the impact of Internet use on the health of older adults using fixed effect model and instrumental variable method. We also examined the mediating role of health information acquisition, lifestyle, and social interaction in these associations.

Results

Internet use is positively associated with self-rated health and negatively associated with psychological sub-health level. Internet use promotes the health of older adults by facilitating access to health information, healthy lifestyles, and enhancing social interaction. And the impacts are heterogeneous at the individual and regional levels.

Discussion and implications

We should progressively enhance the level of internet accessibility for older adults, while concurrently addressing and narrowing the ‘digital divide’. By generating an abundance of superior health-related information, we can significantly improve health education tailored for the elderly. Additionally, it is crucial to offer extensive training opportunities designed to equip older adults with the necessary skills to proficiently navigate the internet.

Available only for authorised users

According to WHO’s Decade of Action on Healthy Ageing 2020–2030, in 2020, more people over the age of 60 will outnumber children under the age of 5 globally; By 2030, the number of people aged 60 and above will reach 1.4 billion globally. At the same time, most older people live in developing countries.

By 2050, the proportion of China’s population aged 65 or older will surpass that of the United States, Britain and Germany, and close in on Japan, according to the Peking University-Lancet Major Report on Healthy Aging in China. China is likely to become one of the “oldest countries” in the world.

The general standard of population aging is the proportion of the elderly population. Generally speaking, the aging society means that the population aged 60 and above accounts for 10% of the total population. This paper adopts this standard and defines the elderly as the population aged 60 and above.

The regional division is based on the National Bureau of Statistics “East, West, Central and Northeast Region Classification Method”.

Referring to the research of Chen (2022), the evaluation index system of provincial economic development is formed from five aspects: structural level, economic benefit, economic scale, people’s living and openness level. The entropy method is used to calculate the comprehensive guidance of the economic development level of each province, and regions are divided into two types, that is developed and non-developed regions.

Regional Internet usage is the proportion of the province’s surveyed population that uses the Internet.

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Title: The impact of internet use on health among older adults in China: a nationally representative study
Authors: Yanyan Zhou
Yang Bai
Jun Wang
Publication date: 01-12-2024
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18269-4

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

The impact of internet use on health among older adults in China: a nationally representative study

Abstract

Background and objectives

Research design and methods

Results

Discussion and implications

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background and objectives

Research design and methods

Results

Discussion and implications

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