Older Americans are less apt to use the internet, and are also less health-conscious than younger people, according to a new study.
University of Michigan researchers believe seniors could be missing out on a wealth of information about health care by not accessing the internet, at the time in their lives when many diseases become more common.
Just 10 percent of elderly Americans with low health literacy, the ability to effectively gather information from health care Web sites, were found to use the global network for health-related information and news. This data was collected by asking subjects to self-report their ease at filling out medical records and forms online.
American seniors do not use the internet to find information about health nearly as often as younger residents. Just one-third of older people reported using the World Wide Web for that purpose.
Health and medicine information on the World Wide Web, providing users with a number of resources, such as easy access to health records, that were not available even a few years ago.
"The Internet is becoming central to health care delivery, but older Americans with low health literacy face barriers that may sideline them in this era of technology. Programs need to consider interventions that target health literacy among older adults to help narrow the gap and reduce the risk of deepening disparities in health access and outcomes," Kenneth Langa of the University of Michigan, said.
The Health and Retirement Study collected data from 2009 and 2010 on the utilization of virtual data sources by seniors. This research examined 1,584 seniors who used the internet, as well as 824 subjects who did not go online. The data included information on what percentage of internet use was related to gathering health information, compared to other purposes.
Immunization records, instructions and warnings for prescription drugs, and lab results are now available online for patients. However, this available data is only available to people able to access the information. Researchers are calling for additional education for seniors, teaching them how to access this data.
"Our findings suggest that there's a digital divide when it comes to health care. Older adults with low health literacy especially represent a vulnerable population that's at high risk of being left behind by the advance of technology," Helen Levy, a research associate at Michigan University, said.
Study of internet usage by seniors for the purpose of accessing health information was detailed in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
