The Relationship between Social Media Usage and General Health in the Older People of Shiraz City in Iran
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The Relationship between Social Media Usage and General Health in the Older People of Shiraz City in Iran Leila Habibi 1 & Hamid Reza Farpour 2,3 & Ali Reza Simab 4 & Mohammad Abbas Bejeshk 5 & Mohammad Amin Rajizadeh 5 & Sima Farpour 6 Accepted: 2 October 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Older people today have the fastest growth among demographic groups with increased life expectancy. Contemporary advances in the Internet, especially social media, have changed the pattern of health-based communication. Novel technologies in the form of using the Internet are affecting the healthcare environment. Online interactions can help the people pay more attention to their health and well-being. Patients frequently use the Internet, both as a source of information and for psychological support. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of social media use on the general health of older people. In this cross-sectional study, the general health survey for older people aged between 60 and 85 years of Shiraz was completed. The four health criteria also examined those using social media and those who did not. Data were analyzed using non-parametric statistical methods such as Mann-Whitney, ANOVA, t-test, and chisquare. The study revealed that the general health of the elderly was better for people using social media than for those not using the Internet. It was also found that using social media for more than an hour a day reduced the level of health in older people. No correlation was found between age and health status in older people. It was also found that the effect of using the Internet on increasing the women’s health was more pronounced. Using the Internet to interact with others can significantly improve the social functioning of older people. Given the positive impact of using social media on the health of older people, planning to encourage and adequately train the use of the Internet and social media in the elderly group is of particular importance. Keywords General health . Older people . Social media . Social network
* Hamid Reza Farpour [email protected]; [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Ageing Int
Introduction Aging is one of the principal causes of mortality in the world, and since it is a new phenomenon in the world population, it can be caused by a variety of reasons, including deaths due to advances in medical science, health, birth control and education. As a result, these factors can increase life expectancy rate and longevity(Amirazodi et al. 2020; Asgharzadeh et al. 2014; Bejeshk et al. 2018; Hess et al. 2014). Older people with the highest life expectancy today have the fastest growth among the population; however, with the world population growth rate of 1.7% at present, that of the population aged 65 years and over is 2.5% (Rocha et al. 2002). The United Nations in 2006 estimated the total number of older people in the world to be 687 million 923,000. This figure will reach 968
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