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Table 3 Tasks involving digital technology seniors did in the past 12 months on their own or with a little help

From: Older adults’ readiness to engage with eHealth patient education and self-care resources: a cross-sectional survey

Digital Technology Tasks All By Age Group By Race/Ethnicity
65–79 65–69 70–74 75–79 White Black Latino Filipino Chinese
(N = 2602) (N = 841) (N = 878) (N = 883) (N = 849) (N = 567) (N = 653) (N = 219) (N = 314)
Searched for information on the internet about any type of product, service, or problem using Google/other search engine,% 72.2 84.4 72.9*** 62.6*** 76.7 55.0*** 54.7*** 47.1*** 70.8
Got information about a health topic from any website,% 62.9 75.7 64.2*** 52.0*** 66.6 48.0*** 48.2*** 41.8*** 63.4
Downloaded a printed a form or other document from a website,% 61.2 73.4 63.3** 49.7*** 65.5 44.2*** 43.7*** 37.7*** 61.8
Clicked on a website link that opened a document or took you to another part of the website or another website,% 54.3 73.5 54.9*** 39.6*** 58.0 40.3*** 37.0*** 35.1*** 51.8
Filled out an online form or questionnaire and then submitted it,% 52.4 65.2 55.0** 39.8*** 56.0 40.3*** 33.6*** 32.3*** 54.3
Used online chat to get information or help from a company’s website a,% 20.9 28.6 23.3 12.4*** 21.6 18.9 15.6** 18.5 22.2
Used Skype/video chat to view the person youwere talking to on screen,% 20.3 24.9 22.8 13.5*** 20.7 15.8* 17.5 18.9 26.4*
Paid a bill or ordered any product or service online using a credit card,% 62.5 72.9 65.9* 50.5*** 66.9 45.5*** 44.7*** 39.0*** 59.3*
Paid a bill or ordered any product or service online using PayPala,% 28.1 38.8 28.6** 19.8*** 29.2 25.1 22.6** 20.0* 31.5
Looked at someone’s or a company’s Facebook page a,% 29.8 38.7 31.2* 21.6*** 31.7 21.9*** 22.5*** 21.1** 26.0
Used Twitter a,% 7.6 10.4 8.4 4.4*** 7.2 7.1 7.7 11.9* 10.9
Downloaded an app from a website (Apple app store, Google Play, etc.) a,% 33.8 45.5 36.2** 22.1*** 35.1 28.5* 27.1** 27.2* 35.1
Used a health-related app (e.g., to monitor blood pressure, sleep, food eaten, exercise, etc.) on a smartphone or iPad/other tablet computer,% 11.6 17.8 11.6* 7.0*** 11.1 12.6 10.9 16.2 14.1
  1. Cell percentages are based on weighted data for everyone in that age or racial/ethnic group. Ns at top of columns are the unweighted number of respondents in that group. Statistical testing compared ages 70–74 and 75–79 with ages 65–69 and blacks, Latinos, Filipinos, and Chinese with non-Hispanic whites. Unless otherwise noted, percentages are based on data from the full respondent sample
  2. White Non-Hispanic white
  3. *Significant difference (P < .05) after controlling for race/ethnicity and sex (age group comparisons) or age group and sex (racial/ethnic group comparisons)
  4. **Significant difference (P < .01) after controlling for race/ethnicity and sex (age group comparisons) or age group and sex (racial/ethnic group comparisons)
  5. ***Significant difference (P < .001) after controlling for race/ethnicity and sex (age group comparisons) or age group and sex (racial/ethnic group comparisons)
  6. aBased on the respondents who completed the longer form of the questionnaire (see Table 2 for column Ns)
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