A community-based study to estimate the internet usage and its associated factors among elderly residing in an urban slum area in North India

Abstract

Background

There has been tremendous growth in internet usage globally, with an estimated 5 billion users around the world in

2022 (1). In India , there were 840 million internet users in 2022 (2). Internet addiction, defined as the inability to

control one's use of the internet despite negative consequences, often persists over an extended period (3-5). While

internet addiction has been widely studied in adolescents and young adults, there are limited studies to explore

internet addiction among the elderly.

Aims and Objectives

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of internet addiction among the elderly and to determine the various

factors associated with internet addiction.

Methods

This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 study participants. A semi-structured

interview schedule was used for data collection. It included the socio-demographic details of the study participants

and a structured schedule for assessing internet addiction using Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Statistical

analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression.

Results

The mean age of the study participants was 66.9 years (SD = 6.8), ranging from 60 to 92 years. The distribution of

categories reveals that 49.5% of participants had no internet addiction, while 36.0% had mild internet addiction.

Moderate internet addiction accounted for 9.5% of the total, and severe internet addiction was found in 5.0% of the

individuals. On multivariable analyses, it was found that gender (adjusted OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.29-4.25), marital

status (adjusted OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.23-4.76) and personal income (adjusted OR = 5.49, 95% CI: 2.45-12.32) were

significantly associated with internet addiction.

Conclusion

The high prevalence of internet addiction, along with its significant associations with gender, marital status, and

personal income, suggests a need for targeted interventions focusing on education about healthy internet use

among older adults. It is also recommended to collaborate with local healthcare providers and youth volunteers to

educate the elderly on internet addiction. Future research should consider longitudinal designs to better understand

the causal pathways and the effectiveness of different intervention strategies.