ArticleFrontiers in public health2026
The impact of digital literacy on health behaviors among middle-aged and older adults: the mediating roles of proactive health awareness and social capital.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Critical Factors for Health Behavior Among University Students: The Role of Health Consciousness, Health Knowledge, and Risk Perception.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Longitudinal bidirectional associations among sarcopenia risk, social isolation, and frailty in Chinese older adults using an item response theory-derived frailty index.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Digital literacy and subjective well-being among Chinese older adults: the mediating role of social support.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The mediating role of digital health literacy in the relationship between social support and health-promoting lifestyle among occupational populations: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Associations between DigComp 2.2-based digital competence and multidimensional health literacy among older adult learners in Shanghai Universities of the Third Age: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: With the rapid acceleration of population aging in China, promoting healthy behaviors among middle-aged and older adults has become an urgent public health priority. Digital literacy, as a key skill in the digital era, may influence health behaviors directly or indirectly through psychological and social pathways. This study analyzes the impact of digital literacy on health behaviors among middle-aged and older adults, focusing on the mediating roles of proactive health awareness and social capital. Methods: Using data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this study constructed a composite digital literacy index based on the entropy weight method. A total of 1,458 respondents aged 45 and above were included. Health behaviors were measured by dietary and exercise indicators, while proactive health awareness and social capital were modeled as mediators. Ordinary least squares regression, ordinal logistic regression, and ordered probit regression were applied to analyse the direct and indirect effects of digital literacy on health behaviors. Results: Digital literacy had no significant direct effect on health behaviors ( Conclusion: Among middle-aged and older Chinese adults, digital literacy appears to influence health behaviors mainly by enhancing health awareness and expanding social support. These findings imply that interventions to promote healthy aging should combine digital skills training with health education and community support networks. The observed age differences suggest that such strategies may need to be tailored to different age groups.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.