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Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S.
Objective: To examine geographic variations in health information use among older adults in the United States. Methods: We compared 15,531 adults (age 45 and older) across four U.S. regions. Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess health information seeking and use by year. The relationship be...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
SAGE Publications
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7940770/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33748338 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2333721421997192 |
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author | Mathis, Arlesia Rooks, Ronica N. Wiltshire, Jacqueline |
author_facet | Mathis, Arlesia Rooks, Ronica N. Wiltshire, Jacqueline |
author_sort | Mathis, Arlesia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Objective: To examine geographic variations in health information use among older adults in the United States. Methods: We compared 15,531 adults (age 45 and older) across four U.S. regions. Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess health information seeking and use by year. The relationship between health information seeking or use and regional changes were assessed using binomial logistic regression. Binomial models were adjusted by socio-demographics, chronic conditions, and health information sources. Magnitude and direction of relationships were assessed using adjusted odds ratios (aORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and p-values. Results: Only the Northeast region showed increases in health information seeking (3.8%) and use (4.5%) among older adults. However adjusted models showed those living in the Northeast were 28% less likely to use health information to maintain their health and 32% less likely to use health information to treat illness. Conclusion: As a result of the current pandemic, older adults are facing a growing burden from health care expenses. Inability to gather and use health information for personal safety or self care can potentially increase inequalities in health, especially for older adults without personal health care providers. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7940770 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | SAGE Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-79407702021-03-18 Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. Mathis, Arlesia Rooks, Ronica N. Wiltshire, Jacqueline Gerontol Geriatr Med Article Objective: To examine geographic variations in health information use among older adults in the United States. Methods: We compared 15,531 adults (age 45 and older) across four U.S. regions. Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess health information seeking and use by year. The relationship between health information seeking or use and regional changes were assessed using binomial logistic regression. Binomial models were adjusted by socio-demographics, chronic conditions, and health information sources. Magnitude and direction of relationships were assessed using adjusted odds ratios (aORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and p-values. Results: Only the Northeast region showed increases in health information seeking (3.8%) and use (4.5%) among older adults. However adjusted models showed those living in the Northeast were 28% less likely to use health information to maintain their health and 32% less likely to use health information to treat illness. Conclusion: As a result of the current pandemic, older adults are facing a growing burden from health care expenses. Inability to gather and use health information for personal safety or self care can potentially increase inequalities in health, especially for older adults without personal health care providers. SAGE Publications 2021-03-04 /pmc/articles/PMC7940770/ /pubmed/33748338 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2333721421997192 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
spellingShingle | Article Mathis, Arlesia Rooks, Ronica N. Wiltshire, Jacqueline Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. |
title | Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. |
title_full | Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. |
title_fullStr | Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. |
title_full_unstemmed | Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. |
title_short | Use of Health Information Varies by Region Among Older Adults in the U.S. |
title_sort | use of health information varies by region among older adults in the u.s. |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7940770/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33748338 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2333721421997192 |
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