Digital Information Technology Use, Self-Rated Health, and Depression: Population-Based Analysis of a Survey Study on Older Migrants

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have found that in general, poor health is associated with a lower likelihood of internet use in older adults, but it is not well known how different indicators of health are associated with different types of digital information technology (DIT) use. Moreover, little is known about the relationship between health and the types of DIT use in older ethnic minority and migrant populations.

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the associations among depressive symptoms and self-rated health (SRH) with different dimensions of DIT use in older migrants.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Care, Health and Ageing of Russian-speaking Minority (CHARM) study, which is based on a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling, Russian-speaking adults aged 50 years or older residing permanently in Finland (men: 616/1082, 56.93%; age: mean 63.2 years, SD 8.4 years; response rate: 1082/3000, 36.07%). Data were collected in 2019 using a postal survey. Health was measured using depressive symptoms (measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) and SRH. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between the two health indicators and the following six outcomes: daily internet use, smartphone ownership, the use of the internet for messages and calls, social media use, the use of the internet for personal health data, and obtaining health information from the internet. A number of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors were controlled for in the logistic regression regression analysis. Analyses were performed with weights accounting for the survey design and nonresponse.

Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 2.68, 95% CI 1.37-5.24; P=.004) and poor SRH (OR 7.90, 95% CI 1.88-33.11; P=.005) were associated with a higher likelihood of not using the internet daily. Depressive symptoms (OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.06-3.35; P=.03) and poor SRH (OR 5.05, 95% CI 1.58-16.19; P=.006) also increased the likelihood of smartphone nonuse. Depressive symptoms were additionally associated with a lower likelihood of social media use, and poor SRH was associated with a lower likelihood of using the internet for messaging and calling.

Conclusions: Poor SRH and depressive symptoms are associated with a lower likelihood of DIT use in older adults. Longitudinal studies are required to determine the directions of these relationships.

Keywords: depression; digital information technology; health; migrants; mobile phone; older adults.