Acceptance and use of communication technology by the elderly (Preprint)

Abstract

Population aging is a global phenomenon, with the proportion of the population over the age of 60 increasingly rapidly. However ownership and use of technology by people in this age group remains low, which impacts on introduction of and the assumptions made for, technology-based activities such as telehealth and telemedicine. It is essential to gain accurate information on the level of technology ownership in target groups. However, many studies on levels of technology ownership and use report using electronic methods for their survey, which introduces bias and may result in a higher value.

To determine the level of ownership of technology in the elderly population using an unbiased data collection methodology.

Our study collects data from patients invited to attend a clinic for their annual flu vaccination, and thereby captures a cross section of the population that is unbiased by the collection method. 309 patients completed a questionnaire, and were considered in three (3) age groups; young adults (25 to 45) (n=72), working-age (46 to 59) (n=80) and older adults (60 and above) (n=157).

In the older adult group (60+), 50 people (32%) out of 157 respondents had a mobile or smart phone and 107 (68%) did not; 38 people (24%) out of 157 respondents owned and used a computer and 119 (76%) had never used or owned a computer or tablet

Our results show a significantly lower ownership of technology in the elderly than found in other similar studies, which we attribute to the method of collection of the data, and consider to be a true reflection of the ownership in the general population.