Bethany Tennant|Michael Stellefson|Virginia J. Dodd|Beth H. Chaney|Don Chaney|Samantha R. Paige|Julia M. Alber
eHealth Literacy and Web 2.0 Health Information Seeking Behaviors Among Baby Boomers and Older Adults
ICF International (United States)|University of Florida Health|University of Florida|East Carolina University|East Carolina University|University of Florida Health|University of Florida Health
background baby boomers older adults subset population high risk chronic disease social isolation poor health outcomes increasingly utilizing internet social media web 20 locate evaluate health information however among older populations little known factors influence ehealth literacy use web 20 health information objective intent study explore extent sociodemographic social determinants electronic device use influences ehealth literacy use web 20 health information among baby boomers older adults methods random sample baby boomers older adults n283 mean 6746 years sd 998 participated crosssectional telephone survey included ehealth literacy scale eheals items health information national trends survey hints assessing electronic device use use web 20 health information independent samples test compared ehealth literacy among users nonusers web 20 health information multiple linear logistic regression analyses conducted determine associations sociodemographic social determinants electronic device use selfreported ehealth literacy use web 20 seeking sharing health information results almost 90 older web 20 users 90101 891 reported using popular web 20 websites facebook twitter find share health information respondents reporting use web 20 reported greater ehealth literacy mean 3038 sd 545 n101 use web 20 mean 2831 sd 579 n182 t217608722298 p003 younger age b8722010 education b048 use electronic devices b126 significantly associated greater ehealth literacy r2 17 r2adj 14 f92295277 p60001 women nearly three times likely men use web 20 health information 263 wald 809 df1 p004 finally education predicted greater use web 20 health information college graduates 257 wald 386 df 1 p049 post graduates 7105 wald 4278 df1 p04 nearly 2 7 times likely nonhigh school graduates use web 20 health information conclusions younger possessing education associated greater ehealth literacy among baby boomers older adults females highly educated particularly post graduate level reported greater use web 20 health information indepth surveys interviews among diverse groups baby boomers older adult populations likely yield better understanding regarding current webbased health information seeking sharing behaviors influence healthrelated decision making