The influence of the internet on choices about older adults' health and well-being.
Cristina Braga, Karen Ruggeri Saad, Marcia Kiyomi Koike
PMID 38747746WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults using health websites were mostly women (93%) aged 60 to 70 (76%), and 72% said online information influenced their health decisions.
Nurses should ask what they are reading and following.
Key findings
01Of 556 completed forms, 391 older adults met inclusion criteria; 93% were women and 76% were 60 to 70 years old.
02Among the 391 participants, 85% were satisfied with website information, 94% believed websites promote healthy habits, and 72% said information influenced their decisions.
03The logistic model included education, satisfaction with information, information influencing decisions, belief that websites promote healthy habits, participation in social activities, and self-perceived health as variables for the outcome of following internet health guidelines.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited through Facebook groups and a health website for older adults, so they were already online and interested in health information. This does not represent older adults who are digitally excluded. The analysed sample was mostly women and mostly had higher education, so findings may not apply to men or less educated older adults. The design was exploratory and cross-sectional, so it did not test whether internet information caused health decisions or improved health. The chi-square tests used a significance threshold below 0.10, and the logistic model was built by stepwise selection, so the reported model should be read cautiously.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the model as proof that internet information causes older adults to follow health guidelines. It is a convenience survey of mostly educated women who already used health websites, and it did not test an intervention or health outcome.