Information and Communication Technology Use for Alleviation of Disability Onset in Socially Isolated Older Adults: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

This study aimed to investigate whether ICT use could alleviate the onset of disability in community-dwelling older adults with and without social isolation. Methods: This longitudinal cohort study on 4,346 community-dwelling independent Japanese older adults (mean age, 73.5 ±5.3 years) was conducted between 2017 and 2018. Participants were classified into four groups based on social isolation (the condition where two or more of the following measures were met: domestic isolation, less social contact, and social disengagement) and ICT users (those who had recently used a computer or a smartphone) and followed up to assess disability incidence for 24 months after baseline assessments. Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to identify the effect of social isolation and ICT use on the risk of disability onset by adjusting by age, sex, education histor y, number of medications, eye disease, level of annual income, mini-mental state examination, geriatric depression scale 15, and gait speed. Results: Most participants belonged to the group of non-social isolation and ICT users (44.7%), followed by non-social isolation and ICT non-users (41.7%), soc ial isolation and ICT non-users (8.2%), and social isolation and ICT users (5.4%). At the follow-up, 2.2%, 5.5%, 2.4%, and 12.4% of the participants in the above order developed disability (p
Source: Gerontology - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research