The Digital Divide in Health-Related Technology Use: The Significance of Race/Ethnicity
The Digital Divide in Health-Related Technology Use: The Significance of Race/Ethnicity
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DOI：
10.1093/geront/gny138
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发表时间：
2019-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Muramatsu, Naoko
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mitchell, Uchechi A.;Chebli, Perla G.;Muramatsu, Naoko
背景和目的技术可以提高不同人群的健康和生活质量，并可能在缩小健康差距方面发挥重要作用。尽管已经注意到年轻人和老年人之间的数字鸿沟，但尚不清楚老年人对管理健康的技术的使用是否因种族/民族而不同。这项研究使用了来自居住在社区的美国老年人的具有全国代表性的数据，以表征在健康相关技术使用方面的种族/民族差异。设计和方法数据来自1,336名年龄在54岁及以上的白人、黑人和西班牙裔成年人，他们完成了2014年健康与退休研究的技术模块。使用泊松回归评估总体健康相关技术使用中的种族/民族差异。然后，使用F检验来评估使用电话、短信、电子邮件、社交媒体、健康管理网站、与健康相关的移动应用程序、网络搜索和脑力游戏用于健康目的的差异。结果与白人相比，年长的黑人和西班牙裔在考虑人口统计特征、教育和健康状况后，不太可能将技术用于与健康相关的目的。他们也不太可能打电话或接听电话，使用健康管理网站，在网络上搜索健康信息，以及使用脑力游戏来促进自己的健康。讨论和暗示年龄较大的种族和少数民族在管理自己的健康时使用某些技术的可能性低于白人。这些调查结果突出表明，必须了解不同种族和族裔人口使用与健康有关的技术的模式，以便适当调整旨在改善少数群体健康和消除健康差距的干预措施。
Background and Objectives Technology can enhance the health and quality of life of diverse populations and may play an important role in reducing health disparities. Although a digital divide between the young and the old has been noted, it is unclear whether the use of technology for managing health differs by race/ethnicity among older adults. This study uses nationally representative data from community-dwelling older Americans to characterize racial/ethnic differences in health-related technology use.Design and Methods Data came from 1,336 white, black, and Hispanic adults aged 54 and older who completed the 2014 technology module of the Health and Retirement Study. Racial/ethnic differences in overall health-related technology use were assessed using Poisson regression. Then, F-tests were used to assess differences in the use of phone calls, text messages, E-mails, social media, health management sites, health-related mobile applications, web searches, and brain games for health purposes.Results Compared to whites, older blacks and Hispanics were less likely to use technology for health-related purposes after accounting for demographic characteristics, education, and health conditions. They were also less likely to make or receive phone calls, use health management sites, search the web for health information, and use brain games for their health.Discussion and Implications Older racial and ethnic minorities are less likely than whites to use certain technologies when managing their health. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the patterns of health-related technology use across racially and ethnically diverse populations to appropriately tailor interventions aimed at improving minority health and eliminating health disparities.