title: Older People with Access to Hand-Held Devices: Who Are They?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple comorbid conditions among older patients require frequent physician office and emergency room visits, at times leading to hospitalization. In recent years, mobile health (m-health) systems utilizing hand-held devices (e.g., smartphones) have been developed, which could be used for health-related interventions. This study investigates sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of individuals who have or have not accessed Internet via hand-held devices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adults older than 65 years of age who participated in the Health Tracking survey of the Pew Internet and American Life Project in 2012 were included in the analysis. Data were analyzed for prevalence of Internet access via hand-held devices and differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Different online health information seeking behavior is also reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the weighted sample size of 3,116 responses, 472 (15.1%) had access to Internet via hand-held devices. Those with such an access were younger and had higher income and education and better overall quality of life and quality of life at the time of answering the survey. They were more likely to be female and married or living as married. Those with diabetes or significant change in physical condition in the prior year were less likely to have such an access. In the multivariate analysis, older or diabetic individuals had lower probability of such access. Higher likelihood of access was associated with higher income and education, being married, female gender, better quality of life, higher number of comorbid illnesses, and emergency room visit or hospital admission in the last 12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Investigators should pay attention to sociodemographic and clinical disparities of older adults to develop feasible m-health interventions.
authors.affiliation: 1 Geriatrics Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shahrokni
authors.affiliation: 1 Geriatrics Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Sanam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahmoudzadeh
authors.affiliation: 2 School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University , Pullman, Washington.
authors.forename: Ramyar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saeedi
authors.affiliation: 2 School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University , Pullman, Washington.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghasemzadeh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Pew Internet and American Life Project; comorbid conditions; hand-held devices; mobile health; senior citizens