Most Older Adults Don’t Use Health Apps, According to Poll

A new poll conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and innovation of 2,110 adults aged 50-80 found that 44 percent of those older adults have ever used any health-related apps on their smartphone, wearable device, or tablet.
 
Recent data showed 83 percent of people 50-64, and 61 percent over 65 own a smartphone and just under half in each age group own a tablet.
 
Survey respondents who reported poor health, lower incomes, or lower education levels were found less likely to use these apps. Poll director and infectious disease physician Preet Malani, MD noted older adults with income over $100,000 were almost three times as likely with those under $30,000 income.
 
“People who describe their health as fair or poor—the people who might be most in need of the kind of tracking, support and information a good health app can give—were significantly less likely to use such apps than those who say they’re in excellent, very good or good health,” Dr. Malani told the press. “Health providers should consider discussing the use of health apps with their patients, because one-third said they had never thought about using one.”
 
Half the respondents who never used health apps or stopped using them reported not being interested in using them.
 
28 percent of the older adults polled currently use at least one app. A third of that group uses a tool for exercise tracking, and smaller percentages use health apps for sleep, weight, nutrition, blood pressure, meditation guidance, or mental health and stress management. About a quarter of the older health app users have shared health information from their apps with clinicians.
 
28 percent of older adults with diabetes also reported using a health app to log blood sugar levels. Half that percentage use an app to log medications. However, almost half of older adults reported interest in using a health app for both of these. The poll also had questions concerning continuous glucose monitors (CGM), which only 11 percent of respondents with Type 2 diabetes said they use. Another 68 percent said they’d be interested in using a CGM.
 
“AARP’s research has found a sharp increase in older adults purchasing and using technology during the pandemic, and many are interested in using technology to track health measures,” said Indira Venkat, VP of consumer insights at AARP. “With more people 50+ owning and using technology, we may start to see an increase in older adults using apps to monitor their health.”