Abstract
Background: Quality of life (QoL) is affected even at early stages in older adults with cognitive impairment. The use of mobile health (mHealth) technology can offer support in daily life and improve the physical and mental health of older adults. However, a clarification of how mHealth technology can be used to support the QoL of older adults with cognitive impairment is needed. Objective: To investigate factors affecting mHealth technology use in relation to self-rated QoL among older adults with cognitive impairment. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used to analyse mHealth technology use and QoL in 1,082 older participants. Baseline data were used from a multi-centered randomized controlled trial including QoL, measured by the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease (QoL-AD) Scale, as the outcome variable. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models. Results: Having moderately or high technical skills in using mHealth technology and using the internet via mHealth technology on a daily or weekly basis was associated with good to excellent QoL in older adults with cognitive impairment. Conclusions: The variation in technical skills and internet use among the participants can be interpreted as an obstacle for mHealth technology to support QoL.
Highlights
The movement toward mobile health technology to meet the needs of an aging population is widely discussed as beneficial (Changizi & Kaveh, 2017; Sohaib Aslam et al, 2020)
The median Quality of life (QoL) score assessed by the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease (QoL-AD) among the study sample was 36.00 (IQR = 32.00–40.00), indicating a good QoL
The results of this study showed that technical skills and frequency of using the internet was associated with the self-rated QoL, where moderately to high technical skills and daily or weekly internet use corresponded to the perception of having a good or excellent QoL among the older adults
Summary
The movement toward mobile health (mHealth) technology to meet the needs of an aging population is widely discussed as beneficial (Changizi & Kaveh, 2017; Sohaib Aslam et al, 2020). There are still concerns that need addressing before mHealth can meet its potential, which include examination of the ways in which digital health technologies can support health and quality of life (QoL) in older adults (Lupton, 2018; Marston et al, 2017). The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting mHealth technology use in relation to self-rated QoL among older adults with cognitive impairment. The use of mobile health (mHealth) technology can offer support in daily life and improve the physical and mental health of older adults. A clarification of how mHealth technology can be used to support the QoL of older adults with cognitive impairment is needed. Objective: To investigate factors affecting mHealth technology use in relation to self-rated QoL among older adults with cognitive impairment.
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