Institute for Hospital Management, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen Campus, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Evidence-based Medicine Center, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Linhai, Zhejiang, 317000, China.
BMC Geriatr. 2024 Jun 21;24(1):537. doi: 10.1186/s12877-024-04994-3.
As older people have complex medical needs and still encounter challenges in accessing online health information, the relationship between Internet use and the choice of medical institution made by them is unclear, and we aimed to examine this relationship.
Data from the newly released 2020 China Family Panel Survey database were used. Furthermore, we used descriptive statistics to analyze the background characteristics of the sample and a logistic regression model to estimate the impact of Internet use on the choice of medical institution made by older adults. We conducted a stratified analysis to explore the influence of different characteristics on the relationship between Internet use and the choice of medical institution.
Totally 4,948 older adults were included. Multivariate logistic regression showed that, compared to non-Internet users, Internet users were less likely to choose community health service centers over general hospitals (P < 0.001, OR = 0.667, 95CI%: 0.558-0.797). The subgroup analyses found that Internet use only had an impact on the choice of medical institution in older adults aged 65-69 years, those with partners, those with primary or secondary education, those residing in urban areas, those without medical insurance, those with a self-rated health status as average or healthy, those with unchanged or better health trend, and those without chronic disease. The effect of Internet use on the choice of medical institution did not differ by sex, satisfaction, or trust in doctors.
Internet use may significantly affect older adults' tendency to choose general hospitals to meet their daily medical needs. The subgroup analyses indicated that different characteristics of older people affected this association.
老年人的医疗需求复杂，在获取在线健康信息方面仍面临挑战，因此他们使用互联网的情况与选择医疗机构之间的关系尚不清楚，本研究旨在对此进行探讨。
本研究使用了新发布的 2020 年中国家庭追踪调查数据库的数据。此外，我们使用描述性统计分析来分析样本的背景特征，使用逻辑回归模型来估计互联网使用对老年人选择医疗机构的影响。我们进行了分层分析，以探讨不同特征对互联网使用与选择医疗机构之间关系的影响。
共纳入 4948 名老年人。多变量逻辑回归显示，与非互联网使用者相比，互联网使用者选择社区卫生服务中心而非综合医院的可能性较小（P<0.001，OR=0.667，95%CI%：0.558-0.797）。亚组分析发现，互联网使用仅对 65-69 岁、有伴侣、受教育程度为小学或中学、居住在城市、没有医疗保险、自评健康状况为一般或健康、健康状况不变或有所改善、没有慢性病的老年人选择医疗机构的行为有影响。互联网使用对医疗机构选择的影响在性别、满意度或对医生的信任方面没有差异。
互联网的使用可能会显著影响老年人选择综合医院以满足其日常医疗需求的倾向。亚组分析表明，老年人的不同特征会影响这种关联。
