OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the relationships between sociodemographic-, health-, and lifestyle-related factors and technology use in everyday life and community-dwelling older adults\' readiness to adopt telemedicine, smartphones with texting apps, wearables, and robotics.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, population-based survey study with a stratified probabilistic sample of adults aged 75 years or older living in South Tyrol (autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen, Italy). A random sample of 3600 community-dwelling older adults living at home was invited to complete a questionnaire including single items (older adults\' readiness to use health technology) and scales (PRISMA-7; Program of Research on Integration of Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy). Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the data.
RESULTS: In total, 1695 community-dwelling older adults completed the survey (for a response rate of 47%). In terms of potential digital health technology adoption, wearable devices were favored by 33.7% (n=571), telemedicine by 30.1% (n=510), smartphones and texting apps by 24.5% (n=416), and assistant robots by 13.7% (n=232). Sociodemographic-, health- and lifestyle-related factors, as well as the use of technology in everyday life, played a significant role in explaining readiness to adopt digital health technologies. For telemedicine, age ≥85 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.56-0.96), financial constraints (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.49-0.95), and less than 2 hours of physical activity per week (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.58-0.98) were associated with nonreadiness, while Italian-speaking participants (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.16-2.05) and those regularly using computers (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.16-2.60), smartphones (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.22-2.35), and the internet (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.47-3.49) reported readiness for adoption.
CONCLUSIONS: Community-dwelling older adults display varied readiness toward the adoption of digital health technologies, influenced by age, mother tongue, living situation, financial resources, physical activity, and current use of technology. The findings underscore the need for tailored interventions and educational programs to boost digital health technology adoption among community-dwelling older adults.
目的:本研究旨在探讨社会人口学与health-,以及日常生活中与生活方式相关的因素和技术使用以及社区居住的老年人准备采用远程医疗,带短信应用程序的智能手机,可穿戴设备,和机器人。
方法:这是一个横截面,基于人口的调查研究,对居住在南蒂罗尔的75岁或以上的成年人进行分层概率抽样(博尔扎诺/博赞自治省,意大利)。邀请了3600名居住在家中的社区老年人的随机样本,以完成一份问卷,其中包括单个项目(老年人准备使用卫生技术)和量表(PRISMA-7;维护自治服务整合研究计划)。进行描述性和逻辑回归分析以分析数据。
结果:总计,1695名社区居住的老年人完成了调查(回应率为47%)。就潜在的数字健康技术采用而言,可穿戴设备受到33.7%的青睐(n=571),远程医疗增长30.1%(n=510),智能手机和短信应用增长24.5%(n=416),和辅助机器人的13.7%(n=232)。社会人口统计-,与健康和生活方式相关的因素,以及在日常生活中使用技术,在解释采用数字健康技术的准备方面发挥了重要作用。对于远程医疗,年龄≥85岁(比值比[OR]0.74,95%CI0.56-0.96),财务紧张(OR0.68,95%CI0.49-0.95),每周少于2小时的体力活动(OR0.75,95%CI0.58-0.98)与不准备相关,而讲意大利语的参与者(OR1.54,95%CI1.16-2.05)和经常使用计算机的参与者(OR1.74,95%CI1.16-2.60),智能手机(OR1.69,95%CI1.22-2.35),互联网(OR2.26,95%CI1.47-3.49)报告已准备好采用。
结论:社区居住的老年人对采用数字健康技术表现出不同的准备,受年龄影响,母语,生活状况,财政资源,身体活动,以及目前使用的技术。研究结果强调,需要有针对性的干预措施和教育计划,以促进社区居住的老年人采用数字健康技术。