ArticleBMC geriatrics2026
Differential associations of active and passive digital modalities with health perception biases among older adults.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRapid digitalization positions internet use as a critical social determinant of health. However existing literature largely views internet engagement as a single uniform activity. It overlooks how specific types of digital use correlate with health perception bias which is the evaluative mismatch between subjective self-rating and objective physical status.
methodsThis research analyzed data from the 2020 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. This nationally representative survey used a multi-stage stratified probability sampling strategy. Missing data were handled via Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations. Using Python and Stata software the study employed Latent Profile Analysis to categorize objective physical health. Binary logistic regression and Propensity Score Matching were then used to analyze the associations between specific digital modalities and health perception biases.
resultsThe analysis revealed divergent associations across digital activities. Active information-oriented news reading and social-oriented chatting inversely correlated with pessimistic bias and positively correlated with optimistic bias. In contrast passive entertain-oriented video consumption strongly associated with higher odds of pessimistic bias among objectively healthy older adults. Education moderated these statistical relationships. The positive association between video use and pessimism was weaker among highly educated individuals while associations across both active and passive types were stronger among those with lower education. Additionally, these specific associations were highly sensitive to gender and marital status.
conclusionsThe empirical correlates of the digital environment vary significantly by specific usage patterns and socioeconomic backgrounds. The digital divide extends beyond basic connectivity to include how different digital activities associate with subjective health evaluations. Recognizing that these observational correlations intertwine with lifelong personal trajectories policymakers should focus on fostering content-specific digital literacy and designing tailored digital environments that carefully accommodate the diverse preexisting evaluative tendencies of an aging society.
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.