Aging in a digital world: what influences ICT utilization among older adults?

Background The rapid integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into daily life threatens to widen the digital divide and health inequalities among older adults. Drawing upon the Resources and Appropriation Theory, this study investigated multidimensional resource-based factors associated with ICT utilization among South Korean older adults. Methods This study conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis using data from the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans. After excluding individuals who did not use any ICT device and those whose interviews were completed by a proxy, a final analytic sample of 8,664 participants was included in the survey-weighted hierarchical linear regression analyses. Model 1 included personal and positional categorical inequalities, Model 2 added material resources (total annual personal income), Model 3 added social resources (assistance with daily activities), and Model 4 added cognitive and health resources. Robustness was examined using alternative model specifications. Results In the fully adjusted final model (Model 4), older age was associated with lower ICT utilization, whereas higher educational levels, personal income above 120% of the sample median, the absence of subjective cognitive decline, and better subjective health status were associated with higher ICT utilization. Conversely, middle-income status (80–120% of the median) showed lower ICT utilization compared with the lowest income bracket, although this difference was not significant when equivalized household income was used. The associations with employment and sex were sensitive to model specification: employment was significant in the primary model but not in two of three alternative model specifications, whereas sex was non-significant in the primary model but significant in all three. The final model explained 43.2% of the total variance (R 2 = 0.432). Conclusions ICT utilization among older adults was associated with sociodemographic, economic, cognitive, and health-related factors. Older age, lower educational attainment, subjective cognitive decline, and poorer self-rated health were associated with lower ICT utilization. These findings highlight the need for tailored interventions to support ICT use that consider individual characteristics to reduce the digital divide and promote equitable digital engagement among older populations.