Lifestyle Segmentation to Explain the Online Health Information–Seeking Behavior of Older Adults: Representative Telephone Survey

Abstract

Background As a result of demographic changes, the number of people aged 60 years and older has been increasing steadily. Therefore, older adults have become more important as a target group for health communication efforts. Various studies show that online health information sources have gained importance among younger adults, but we know little about the health-related internet use of senior citizens in general and in particular about the variables explaining their online health-related information–seeking behavior. Media use studies indicate that in addition to sociodemographic variables, lifestyle factors might play a role in this context. Objective The aim of this study was to examine older people’s health-related internet use. Our study focused on the explanatory potential of lifestyle types over and above sociodemographic variables to predict older adults’ internet use for health information. Methods A telephone survey was conducted with a random sample of German adults aged 60 years and older (n=701) that was quota-allocated by gender, age, educational status, and degree of urbanity of their place of residence. Results The results revealed that participants used the internet infrequently (mean 1.82 [SD 1.07]), and medical personnel (mean 2.89 [SD 1.11]), family and friends (mean 2.86 [SD 1.21]), and health brochures (mean 2.85 [SD 1.21]) were their main sources of health information. A hierarchical cluster analysis based on values, interests, and leisure time activities revealed three different lifestyle types for adults aged over 60 years: the Sociable Adventurer, the Average Family Person, and the Uninterested Inactive. After adding these types as second-step predictors in a hierarchical regression model with sociodemographic variables (step 1), the explained variance increased significantly (R2=.02, P=.001), indicating that the Average Family Person and the Sociable Adventurer use the internet more often for health information than the Uninterested Inactive, over and above their sociodemographic attributes. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the internet still plays only a minor role in the health information–seeking behavior of older German adults. Nevertheless, there are subgroups including younger, more active, down-to-earth and family-oriented males that may be reached with online health information. Our findings suggest that lifestyle types should be taken into account when predicting health-related internet use behavior.

Social and Demographic Patterns of Health-Related Internet Use Among Adults in the United States: A Secondary Data Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey

“…These differences may be attributable to differences in health literacy, difficulties and frustration in accessing online information, or trust in health information from online sources [ 23 , 24 , 27 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. Consistent with previous studies, we observed that older adults were also less likely to use the internet to locate health-related information for themselves or others [ 13 , 20 , 23 , 27 , 46 ]. Prior studies have observed that older individuals are more likely to access and trust health information from other sources, including friends and families and religious organizations [ 20 , 27 , 49 ].…”

Gesundheitsinformationsverhalten 65+: Erreichbarkeit älterer Zielgruppen

“…Studien zeigen, dass es einen Zusammenhang zwischen dem Gesundheitszustand und dem Gesundheitsinformationsverhalten älterer Menschen gibt. Manche deuten hierbei darauf hin, dass Personen mit gesundheitlichen Problemen -insbesondere in Form chronischer Erkrankungenmehr nach Gesundheitsinformationen suchen [14][15][16], während andere zeigen, dass Personen mit einem guten Gesundheitszustand häufiger Gesundheitsinformationen nutzen [12,17].…”

“…B. TV, Tageszeitung) heranziehen, um sich über Gesundheitsthemen zu informieren. Obwohl die Bedeutung des Internets als Gesundheitsinformationsquelle generell zunimmt [35][36][37], hat es für ältere Personen einen bisher eher geringen Stellenwert [12].…”

“…B. Gesundheitszustand), insbesondere soziodemografische Daten (z. B. sozioökonomischer Status, Geschlecht, Alter) als Faktoren herangezogen [ 12 , 13 ].…”

“…Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Studie decken sich mit anderen Repräsentativdaten zum Gesundheitsinformationsverhalten der ab 60-Jährigen in Deutschland [ 12 ] und zeigen, dass Ältere vorrangig interpersonale Quellen wie medizinisches Personal, Familie und den Freundeskreis sowie Apothekenzeitschriften und andere traditionelle Medienquellen (z. B. TV, Tageszeitung) heranziehen, um sich über Gesundheitsthemen zu informieren.…”