{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T06:49:32Z","timestamp":1791355772798,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791331200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Digit. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Online health information exchange (OHIE) increasingly shapes how individuals interact with healthcare providers and peers. Yet, despite older adults\u2019 often high need for health information, their engagement with OHIE remains insufficiently understood, given persistent age-related differences in digital access and skills.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This study draws on a population-based survey of older adults aged 60\u2009+\u2009in Switzerland (\n                      <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20091,261) to analyze three types of OHIE: interactions with doctors, other healthcare providers, and peers. Logistic regression models were used to assess how sociodemographic, health-related, behavioral, and competence-based factors are associated with OHIE.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Older adults reported higher use of digital interactions with professionals than with peers. Digital competence was significantly associated with OHIE with doctors and other healthcare providers across all lower competence levels, and, to a more limited extent, with peer-based OHIE, where the association was significant only for basic competence. Peer-based OHIE was predicted by lower levels of education and a greater tendency to seek social support. Common barriers among non-users included concerns about credibility and distrust, as well as a lack of digital experience.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>OHIE among older adults reflects differentiated patterns depending on the interaction context. While OHIE with professionals is primarily associated with digital competence, peer-based digital interactions appear to be shaped more by sociodemographic (such as education) and motivational aspects (such as support seeking). These findings highlight the importance of addressing not only digital skills but also trust, usability, and digital judgment when designing inclusive digital health environments for aging populations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2026.1937500","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T05:50:33Z","timestamp":1791352233000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Engaging with digital health: a cross-sectional study of older adults\u2019 use of online health information exchange"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Samin","family":"Sepahniya","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Work and Health, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland","place":["Olten, 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Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlo","family":"Fabian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Social Work and Health, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland","place":["Olten, Switzerland"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"770","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pec.2020.11.016","article-title":"The influence of online health information on health decisions: a systematic review","volume":"104","author":"Thapa","year":"2021","journal-title":"Patient Educ Couns"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100079","DOI":"10.1016\/j.hfh.2024.100079","article-title":"Understanding older adults\u2019 motivations to use digital health portals","volume":"6","author":"Trinh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Human Factors in 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