ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
Mobile Application Use and Loneliness among Older Adults in the Digital Age: Insights from a Survey in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Acceptability, Needs, Concerns, and Barriers to Digital-Based Interventions for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Systematic Review and Qualitative Meta-Aggregation.JMIR medical informatics · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of an active arcade gaming intervention on psychosocial outcomes for homebound older adults: a pilot randomised controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2026Trial
- Outdoor Exercise Facility-Based Integrative Mobile Health Intervention to Support Physical Activity, Mental Well-Being, and Exercise Self-Efficacy Among Older Adults With Prefrailty and Frailty in Hong Kong: Pilot Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Exergame Intervention for Habit Formation, Lifestyle Adjustment, and Health Ownership Enhancement Among Hong Kong's Older Adults: Multisession, Single-Group, Pre-Post Pilot Study.JMIR serious games · 2026Article
- Evaluation of a Student-Older Adult Telephone Befriending Program to Reduce Social Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2026Article
- Internet Use and Self-Rated Health Among Older Adults: Scoping Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Review
- Article
- The Role of Digital Gaming in Addressing Loneliness Among Older Adults: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Analyzing Themes, Sentiments, and Coping Strategies Regarding Online News Coverage of Depression in Hong Kong: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Non-rigorous versus rigorous home confinement differently impacts mental health, quality of life and behaviors. Which one was better? A cross-sectional study with older Brazilian adults during covid-19 first wave.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- Shared Destiny in the Digital Era: Sensation Seeking, Loneliness, and Excessive Internet Use among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Mainland China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Existing literature on the associations between use of mobile applications (i.e., mobile apps) and loneliness among older adults (OAs) has been mainly conducted before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since mobile apps have been increasingly used by OAs during the pandemic, subsequent effects on social and emotional loneliness need updated investigation. This paper examines the relationship between mobile app use and loneliness among Hong Kong's OAs during the pandemic. In our research, 364 OAs with current use experience of mobile apps were interviewed through a questionnaire survey conducted during July and August 2021, which assessed the use frequency and duration of 14 mobile app types and levels of emotional and social loneliness. The survey illustrated communication (e.g., WhatsApp) and information apps were the most commonly used. Emotional loneliness was associated with the use of video entertainment (frequency and duration), instant communication (duration), and information apps (duration). Association between video entertainment apps' use and emotional loneliness was stronger among older and less educated OAs. Our findings highlight the distinctive relationships between different types of apps and loneliness among Hong Kong's OAs during the pandemic, which warrant further exploration via research into post-pandemic patterns and comparative studies in other regions.
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