Exploring factors influencing willingness of older adults to use assistive technologies: evidence from the cognitive function and ageing study II

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant numbers with sample percentages and means with standard deviations (SD) by health and covariate variables.

Variables	All participants (n = 541)	ICT-mem yes (n = 351)	ICT-mem no (n = 190)	P value	ICT-ADL yes (n = 205)	ICT-ADL no (n = 336)	P value
Age (years), mean (SD) n (%) 75–79 80–84 ≥85	81.3 (4.2) 226 (42%) 184 (34%) 131 (24%)	80.9(4.1) 164 (72%) 111(60%) 76 (58%)	81.9 (4.3) 62 (28%) 73 (40%) 55 (42%)	P = 0.01* P = 0.01*	80.8 (3.9) 96 (43%) 68 (37%) 41 (31%)	81.6 (4.3) 130 (57%) 116 (63%) 90 (69%)	P = 0.04* P = 0.11
Gender, n (%) Female Male	262 (48%) 279 (52%)	157 (45%) 194 (55%)	105 (55%) 85 (45%)	P = 0.02*	171 (51%) 165 (49%)	91 (44%) 114 (56%)	P = 0.1
Socio-economic Status, n (%) Higher managerial, administrative and professional Lower managerial, administrative and professional Intermediate occupations Small employers and own-account workers Lower supervisory and technical occupations Routine or Semi-routine occupations Never worked and long-term unemployed	42 (8%) 259 (49%) 6 (1%) 86 (16%) 58 (11%) 55 (10%) 21 (4%)	32 (76%) 180 (70%) 3 (50%) 48 (56%) 27 (47%) 40 (73%) 13 (62%)	10 (24%) 79 (30%) 3 (50%) 38 (44%) 31 (53%) 15 (27%) 8 (38%)	P = 0.01*	22 (52%) 98 (38%) 2 (33%) 27 (31%) 18 (31%) 26 (47%) 8 (38%)	20 (48%) 161 (62%) 4 (67%) 59 (69%) 40 (69%) 29 (53%) 13 (62%)	P = 0.2
Marital Status, n (%) Married Single	305 (56%) 256 (44%)	212 (70%) 139 (59%)	93 (30%) 97 (41%)	P = 0.01*	128 (42%) 77 (33%)	177 (58%) 159 (67%)	P = 0.03*
Housing, n (%) Independent Adopted	520 (96%) 21 (4%)	338 (65%) 13 (62%)	182 (35%) 8 (38%)	P = 0.77	199 (38%) 6 (29%)	321 (62%) 15 (71%)	P = 0.37
Education level, n (%) Basic educational attainment Moderate educational attainment High educational attainment Total number of years in any education, mean (SD)	63 (12%) 318 (59%) 159 (29%) 11.3 (2.6)	32 (51%) 204 (64%) 114 (72%) 11.5 (2.5)	31 (49%) 114 (36%) 45 (28%) 10.9 (2.5)	P = 0.01* P < 0.05	24 (28%) 119 (37%) 61 (38%) 11.2 (2.3)	39 (62%) 199 (63%) 98 (62%) 11.3 (2.7)	P = 0.98 P = 0.92
Accessing laptop/tablet, n (%) Yes No	334 (62%) 207 (38%)	245 (73%) 106 (51%)	89 (27%) 101 (49%)	P < 0.001**	144 (43%) 61 (30%)	190 (57%) 146 (70%)	P = 0.001**
Accessing Smartphone, n (%) Yes No	151 (28%) 390 (72%)	115 (76%) 236 (61%)	36 (24%) 154 (39%)	P < 0.001**	70 (46%) 135 (34%)	81 (54%) 255 (66%)	P = 0.01*
Confidence in sending/receiving email, n (%) Yes No	229 (42%) 312 (58%)	167 (72%) 184 (59%)	62 (27%) 128 (41%)	P < 0.001**	91 (40%) 114 (36%)	138 (60%) 198 (64%)	P = 0.45
Physically slowing down, n (%) No Mildly slowed down Severely slowed down	31 (6%) 345 (64%) 163 (30%)	14 (45%) 218 (63%) 118 (72%)	17 (55%) 127 (37%) 45 (28%)	P = 0.01*	9 (29%) 128 (37%) 67 (41%)	22 (71%) 217 (63%) 96 (59%)	P = 0.39
5-CST, n (%) Fast Moderate Slow Unable	82 (15%) 99 (18%) 181 (34%) 179 (33%)	50 (61%) 63 (63%) 122 (67%) 116 (65%)	32 (39%) 36 (37%) 59 (33%) 63 (35%)	P = 0.77	27 (33%) 36 (37%) 69 (38%) 73 (41%)	55 (67%) 63 (63%) 112 (62%) 106 (59%)	P = 0.66
Gait speed, n (%) Fast Moderate Slow	450 (84%) 58 (11%) 28 (5%)	287 (64%) 41 (71%) 19 (68%)	163 (36%) 17 (29%) 9 (32%)	P = 0.55	168 (37%) 25 (43%) 11 (39%)	282 (63%) 33 (57%) 17 (61%)	P = 0.69
Disability, n (%) No incapacity Slight incapacity Some incapacity Appreciable incapacity Severe incapacity	2 (1%) 10 (2%) 52 (10%) 80 (15%) 371 (72%)	1 (50%) 4 (40%) 34 (65%) 52 (65%) 242 (65%)	1 (50%) 6 (60%) 18 (35%) 28 (35%) 129 (35%)	P = 0.57	0 5 (50%) 24 (46%) 26 (33%) 137 (37%)	2 (100%) 5 (50%) 28 (54%) 54 (67%) 234 (63%)	P = 0.35
ADL/IADL, n (%) ADL-IADL impairment IADL impairment No impairment	85 (16%) 157 (30%) 290 (55%)	52 (61%) 105 (67%) 187 (65%)	33 (39%) 52 (33%) 103 (35%)	P = 0.67	37 (44%) 56 (36%) 108 (37%)	48 (56%) 101 (64%) 182 (63%)	P = 0.47
Comorbidity, n (%) No comorbidity Single comorbidity Multiple comorbidities	67 (12%) 262 (49%) 207 (39%)	41 (61%) 175 (67%) 131 (63%)	26 (39%) 87 (33%) 76 (37%)	P = 0.59	24 (36%) 102 (39%) 75 (36%)	43 (64%) 160 (61%) 132 (64%)	P = 0.79
Physical Activity, n (%) Totally sedentary Low PA Moderate PA High PA	87 (17%) 132 (26%) 204 (41%) 81 (16%)	53 (61%) 86 (65%) 135 (66%) 51 (63%)	34 (39%) 46 (35%) 69 (34%) 30 (75%)	P = 0.84	35 (40%) 57 (43%) 69 (34%) 31 (38%)	52 (60%) 75 (57%) 135 (66%) 50 (62%)	P = 0.36
BMI, n (%) Underweight Normal Overweight Obese Extremely obese	2 (1%) 101 (20%) 220 (43%) 118 (23%) 61 (12%)	2 (100%) 66 (65%) 148 (67%) 72 (61%) 40 (65%)	0 35 (35%) 72 (33%) 46 (39%) 21 (35%)	P = 0.66	2 (100%) 30 (30%) 88 (40%) 42 (36%) 27 (44%)	0 71 (70%) 132 (60%) 76 (64%) 34 (56%)	P = 0.09
Visual Perception, Mean (SD)	6.6 (1.3)	6.8 (1.2)	6.4 (1.4)	P = 0.001**	6.8 (1.2)	6.5 (1.3)	P = 0.02*
Self-reported eyesight problem, n (%) Yes No	114 (21%) 423 (79%)	73 (64%) 275 (65%)	41 (36%) 148 (35%)	P = 0.85	42 (37%) 160 (38%)	72 (63%) 263 (62%)	P = 0.85
Self-reported hearing problem, n (%) Yes No	209 (39%) 328 (61%)	129 (62%) 219 (67%)	80 (38%) 109 (33%)	P = 0.23	75 (36%) 127 (39%)	134 (56%) 201 (61%)	P = 0.51

*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.

Figure 1. Correlation map showing factors related to willingness to use assistive technology.

Table 2. Logistic regression model for willingness to use technology to aid memory (CI = 95%).

Variables	B (SE)	Wald χ2 (df)	P value	OR (95% CI)
Block 1: Demographic (R2 = .04; χ2 = 13.6; P < 0.01) Age (ref. = 75–79) Gender (ref. = male)	- −0.42 (0.19)	8.60 (2) 4.96 (1)	P = 0.01 P = 0.03	- 0.65 (0.45–0.95)
Block 2: Sociodemographic (R2 = .09; χ2 = 33.1; P < 0.001) Age (ref. = 75–79) Gender (ref. = male) Socio-Economic Status (ref. = higher managerial and professional) Marital status (ref. = married) ^# Education Status (ref. = basic educational attainment) ^#	- −0.49 (0.21) - −0.27 (0.21) -	9.40 (2) 5.45 (1) 19.21 (6) 1.71 (1) 1.34 (2)	P = 0.01* P = 0.02* P < 0.01* P = 0.19 P = 0.51	- 0.61 (0.40–0.92) - 0.76 (0.51–1.15) -
Block 3: Sociodemographic + Accessing ICTs (R2 = .12; χ2 = 45.6; P < 0.001) Age (ref. = 75–79) Gender (ref. = male) Socio-Economic Groups (ref. = higher managerial and professional) Accessing Laptop/tablet (ref. = yes) Accessing Smartphones (ref. = yes) ^# Confidence in Sending/Receiving emails (ref. = no confident) ^#	- −0.42 (0.21) - −0.73 (0.21) −0.14 (0.25) −0.93 (0.82)	5.96 (2) 3.82 (1) 10.65 (6) 12.51 (1) 0.32 (1) 1.29 (1)	P = 0.05 P = 0.05 P = 0.10 P < 0.001** P = 0.57 P = 0.26	- 0.65 (0.43–1.00) - 0.48 (0.32–0.72) 0.86 (0.53–1.41) 0.39 (0.80–1.95)
Block 4: Sociodemographic + Accessing ICTs + Physical Health (R2 = .15; χ2 = 59.3; P < 0.001) Age (ref. = 75–79) Age (80–84) Age (>85) Gender (ref. = male) Socio-Economic Groups (ref. = higher managerial and professional) Accessing Laptop/tablet (ref. = yes) Physically slowing down (ref. = severely slowed down) Physically slowing down (mildly slowed down) Physically slowing down (no) Visual Perception^#	- −0.64 (0.23) −0.55 (0.26) −0.49 (0.21) - −0.73 (0.21) - −1.53 (0.45) −0.566 (0.23) 0.12 (0.08)	8.45 (2) 7.64 (1) 4.31 (1) 5.45 (1) 11.11 (6) 12.34 (1) 13.17 (2) 11.44 (1) 6.23 (1) 2.45 (1)	P = 0.02* P < 0.01* P = 0.04* P = 0.02* P = 0.08 P < 0.001** P = 0.001** P = 0.001** P = 0.01* P = 0.12	- 0.52 (0.33–0.83) 0.58 (0.34–0.98) 0.61 (0.40–0.92) - 0.48 (0.32–0.72) - 0.22 (0.09–0.52) 0.57 (0.36–0.88) 1.13 (0.96–1.31)

^# Variable removed from the model.

*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.

Table 3. Logistic regression model for willingness to use technology to aid ADL (CI = 95%).

Variables	B (SE)	Wald χ2 (df)	P-value	OR (95% CI)
Block 1: Sociodemographic (R2 = .019; χ2 = 5.60; P = 0.018) Age (ref. = 75–79)^# Marital status (ref. = married)	- −0.43 (0.18)	1.96 (2) 5.54 (1)	P = 0.37 P = 0.02*	- 0.65 (0.45–0.93)
Block 2: Sociodemographic + Accessing ICTs (R2 = .035; χ2 = 13.948; P = 0.001) Marital status (ref. = married) Accessing Laptop/tablet (ref. = yes) Accessing Smartphones (ref. = yes)^#	−0.32 (0.19) −0.56 (0.20) −0.30 (0.21)	2.96 (1) 8.17 (1) 1.98 (1)	P = 0.09 P < 0.01** P = 0.16	0.72 (0.50–1.04) 0.57 (0.39–0.84) 0.74 (0.48–1.12)
Block 3: Sociodemographic + Accessing ICTs + Physical Health (R2 = .035; χ2 = 13.94; P = 0.001) Marital status (ref. = married) Accessing Laptop/tablet (ref. = yes) Visual Perception^#	−0.32 (0.19) −0.56 (0.20) 0.11 (0.07)	2.96 (1) 8.17 (1) 2.09 (1)	P = 0.09 P < 0.01* P = 0.15	0.72 (0.50–1.04) 0.57 (0.39–0.84) 1.12 (0.96–1.28)

^# Variable removed from the model.

*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.