JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

As the year 2020 approaches, there is a need to evaluate progress towards the United States government’s Healthy People 2020 health information technology and communication objectives to establish baselines upon which Healthy People 2030 objectives can be based.

Objective:

To use the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to benchmark progress toward Healthy People 2020 goals related to increasing internet access using broadband, and to assess the state of the digital divide for various sociodemographic groups.

Methods:

Data from eight administrations of HINTS (2003-2017) were merged and analyzed. Descriptive statistics were generated, and predicted marginals were calculated using interaction terms between survey year and selected sociodemographic variables of interest, including age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education, and geography (rural versus urban), to test for differential change over time.

Results:

Internet access increased between 2003 to 2014 (63.1% to 83.4%); the percentage of those with internet access remained relatively steady from 2014 to 2017 (81.2%). Broadband access increased from 2003 to 2011 (from 32.8% to 77.8%), but has since declined (55.9% in 2017). Access via cellular network increased between 2008 and 2017 (from 6.9% to 65.4%). Statistically significant disparities in overall internet access were noted in the predicted marginals for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, and education (p<.05); for age, sex, income, and geography for broadband access; and for age and sex for cellular network.

Conclusions:

The targets set forth in Healthy People 2020 were met for overall internet access and for internet access via cellular network; however, the target was not met for internet access via broadband. Furthermore, while the digital divide persisted by sociodemographic characteristics, the magnitude of many disparities in access decreased over time.