Digital inclusion and Internet use among older adults in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT Objectives: To describe the profile of Brazilian older adults who use the Internet, the means of Internet access and the purpose of Internet use and to verify the existence of association between socio-demographic variables and variables related to Internet use. Method: Cross-sectional study with Brazilian older adults who used the social networks Facebook and WhatsApp. Descriptive, univariate, and bivariate analysis were conducted. Results: 384 older adults participated in the study, mostly women (52.08%), with a mean age of 64.6 years old and who used the Internet to address health concerns (65.36%). The main activities on the internet were reading, listening to music, playing games, watching videos and photos (37.30%). The main benefits pointed out were interaction (74.5%), learning (19.2%) and entertainment (19.25%). There were statistically significant differences between time spent online and the variables gender, age, and civil status. Conclusion: This study showed characteristics of older adults who use the Internet and revealed the possibility of using digital technologies to optimize health care for this population.

摘要
研究目的：旨在描述巴西老年网民的群体画像、互联网接入方式及使用用途，并验证社会人口学变量与互联网使用相关变量之间的关联。
研究方法：本研究为横断面研究，研究对象为使用社交平台脸书（Facebook）和WhatsApp的巴西老年人，采用描述性、单变量及双变量分析方法开展研究。
研究结果：共计384名老年人参与本研究，其中女性占比52.08%，平均年龄为64.6岁；65.36%的受访者使用互联网处理健康相关事宜。互联网主要使用活动包括阅读、收听音乐、玩游戏、观看视频及浏览照片，占比达37.30%。受访者提及的主要使用益处为社交互动（74.5%）、学习（19.2%）及娱乐（19.25%）。在线时长与性别、年龄及婚姻状况变量间存在统计学显著差异。
研究结论：本研究阐明了使用互联网的老年人群体特征，并揭示了可借助数字技术优化该群体医疗保健服务的可能性。