JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Although there is a considerable academic literature documenting the relationship between Internet use and the health of older adults, it is primarily focused on developed countries. Less common, however, is analysis of developing countries. Moreover, there is very little explored in depth whether the internet has narrowed the digital divide between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups, or has brought more information welfare to the disadvantaged.

Objective:

This study aims to examine the impact of internet use on the health of middle-aged and older adults.

Methods:

We used the China General Social Survey (CGSS) data set collected about middle-aged and older adults’ internet use in 2018(n=6562). We applied ordered probit regression to examine the relationships between internet use and health status of middle-aged and older adults.

Results:

In our sample, nearly half (3036/6562, 46.3%) of the respondents use the internet. Approximately third-ten (1806/6562, 27.5%) used internet for information accessing. We found consistent and robust evidence that internet use significantly improved self-rated health (β=0.26, P<.001), physical health (β= 0.21, P<.001) and mental health (β=0.17, P<.001) of middle-aged and older adults, producing an information welfare effect. Mechanism analysis showed that the information search and dissemination function of the internet was its main mechanism for improving the self-rated health (β=0.12, P<.001), physical health (β= 0.13, P<.001) of middle-aged and older adults. Moreover, heterogeneity analysis showed that the information welfare effect of the internet was stronger among the disadvantaged groups.

Conclusions:

Internet use has a positive effect on the health of middle-aged and older adults. The internet has a substitution effect on traditional media in terms of information acquisition. Furthermore, adopting new technologies has narrowed the digital divide between advantaged and disadvantaged groups.