Changes in Internet use patterns among older adults in England from before to after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an increased reliance on the Internet for various daily activities. Given the known digital divide, it is important to understand whether older adults changed their Internet use patterns, but current evidence is limited to cross-sectional studies. This study documents changes in frequency and types of Internet use among older adults from before to shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (2018/2019 to June/July 2020), and the factors predicting regular use during these early days of the pandemic. Using data on 6,840 adults aged 50 + from the nationally representative English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we apply longitudinal fixed-effects models to examine within-individual changes in Internet use behaviour. There was no change in the likelih

SUBMITTER: Kung CSJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9995747 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature