What this means
Online health information exchange (OHIE) increasingly shapes how individuals interact with healthcare providers and peers. Yet, despite older adults' often high need for health information, their engagement with OHIE remains insufficiently understood, given persistent age-related differences in digital access and skills.
A plain-English summary is on its way. Until then, this is the start of the authors' own summary.
- Who it was tested in
- Not stated
- Kind of research
- A study
The science
- Original title
- Engaging with digital health: a cross-sectional study of older adults' use of online health information exchange.
- Authors
- Sepahniya S, Bachofner Y, Bayer-Oglesby L et al.
- Journal
- Frontiers in digital health
- Published
- Oct 23, 2026
- Study type
- Study
- PMID
- 42908922 ↗
Abstract
Background
Online health information exchange (OHIE) increasingly shapes how individuals interact with healthcare providers and peers. Yet, despite older adults' often high need for health information, their engagement with OHIE remains insufficiently understood, given persistent age-related differences in digital access and skills.
What they did
This study draws on a population-based survey of older adults aged 60 + in Switzerland (N = 1,261) to analyze three types of
What they found
Older adults reported higher use of digital interactions with professionals than with peers. Digital competence was significantly associated with OHIE with doctors and other healthcare providers across all lower competence levels, and, to a more limited extent, with peer-based OHIE, where the association was significant only for basic competence. Peer-based OHIE was predicted by lower levels of education and a greater tendency to seek social support. Common barriers among non-users included concerns about credibility and distrust, as well as a lack of digital experience. OHIE among older adults reflects differentiated patterns depending on the interaction context. While OHIE with professionals is primarily associated with digital competence, peer-based digital interactions appear to be shaped more by sociodemographic (such as education) and motivational aspects (such as support seeking). These findings highlight the importance of addressing not only digital skills but also trust, usability, and digital judgment when designing inclusive digital health environments for aging populations.
Other details
interactions with doctors, other healthcare providers, and peers. Logistic regression models were used to assess how sociodemographic, health-related, behavioral, and competence-based factors are associated with OHIE.
The authors' abstract, grouped under plain headings from its own section labels.
Sepahniya S, Bachofner Y, Bayer-Oglesby L et al. Engaging with digital health: a cross-sectional study of older adults' use of online health information exchange. Frontiers in digital health. 2026. doi:10.3389/fdgth.2026.1937500. PMID: 42908922. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42908922/