Computer Literacy in the Elderly: A Survey Examining Real World Usability of Medical Software

Abstract

There is widespread evidence of an association between reduced health literacy and an increased risk of poor medical outcome. Patients with poor medical education experience significantly higher emergency room costs and up to double the hospital admission rates compared to patients with sufficient medical education. Lack of medical literacy is particularly important in the ageing population, due to increased burden of chronic illness and the increasingly complex management of progressive chronic conditions. To address this, various smartphone and tablet medical applications have been developed to improve patient health literacy and monitor chronic illnesses. We propose the need to examine the technological literacy of elderly patients, who are most likely to benefit from these applications.