使用網路對於老年人自覺性健康之影響

Abstract

二十世紀末的資訊革命後，資訊網路普及和科技的進步為人類帶來更便利的生活以及更完善的醫療環境，使得人類壽命更加延長，卻也因此讓老年族群健康以及照護問題成為一大隱憂。然而在過去的研究中，資訊網路的使用常被認為可以解決老年族群的心理健康問題，像是網路使用降低憂鬱程度或使用網路社群可以降低老年族群的孤立感等，較少有資訊網路帶來之負面影響的相關研究，然而近年來出現越來越多因資訊網絡的普及出現的負面影響，如科技冷漠、數位落差以及數位焦慮等，因此各國也開始對於資訊網路可能所帶來的負面影響進行研究。儘管如此，有關資訊網路的討論，依舊大多針對網路使用對其心理健康的影響，且探討的族群通常較為廣闊，較少有針對其網路使用對其生理健康影響以及特定族群使用網路影響的研究，因此本研究將特別針對台灣60歲以上的老年族群，分析網路使用對其自覺性健康的影響，了解網路使用對於台灣老年族群自覺性健康的影響。 本研究利用行政院國家發展委員會「2018年資深公民數位機會調查」之調查資料，本研究使用熟識好友是否使用網路作為工具變數，配合IV-Probit model分析，以降低內生性所造成的估計誤差。實證結果顯示，台灣老年人若有使用網路，對於其自覺性為健康的機率將會上升67.3%。此外在性別為「女性」、「較低的教育程度」、「目前無工作」、「年齡介於65-80歲」以及「主要從事室外類型活動」的族群影響效果更加顯著。

After the information revolution at the end of the twentieth century, the advancement in science, technology, and information networks has brought a more convenient life and a better medical environment to mankind. However, it has also made the aging problem more and more serious. The use of internet is often considered beneficial to the mental health of elderly people in the literature. For example, the use of internet or the use of online communities is found to reduce the isolation of elderly people. However, the negative effects of the internet have also been found in recent years, such as digital anxiety. Thus, more and more studies have been done to examine the relationship between the use of internet and mental health. Nonetheless, most studies on the internet use focused on mental health among general population and only a few studies have been conducted on physical health. To investigate the effect of internet use on physical and mental health of the elderly, this study uses the “2018 Senior Citizens Digital Opportunity Survey”, conducted by the National Development Committee of the Executive Yuan. To deal with the endogeneity of internet use, I use an instrumental variable approach with the use of internet by friends as an instrumental variable. The empirical results show that the use of internet has a positive effect on self-reported health. Compared to the elderly who do not use internet, those who use internet are more likely to report good health by 67.3%. I also find that this effect varies across different groups. Specifically, the effect is more pronounced for respondents who are female, have lower education attainment, age between 65-80 years old, have no job, and mainly engage in outdoor activities