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.