==== Front
Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1013
igaa057.1013
Abstracts
Session 2937 (Poster)
Technology I
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
The Disparities in Accessing Online Health Information and Health Care Utilization Among Older Americans
Liu Darren 1 Yamashita Taka 2 Burston Betty 3 Keene Jennifer 3 1 
Des Moines University, West Des Moines, Iowa, United States
2 
University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
3 
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”316 317
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Digital divide or unequal access to internet and other technology result in health disparities among older adults. This study examined possible disparities in accessing online health-related technology, and the associations between the online health-related technology use and health care utilization among older adults in the U.S. The data comprised a sample of 1,497 older adults aged 51 and older which were obtained from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS)’s supplemental module (Health behaviors). We used the survey-weighted negative binomial regression and binary logistic regression for the analyses. The results showed that older age, racial/ethnic minorities (e.g., Black and Hispanic vs. Whites & Other), being married, lower educational attainment, lower-income, being uninsured and reporting poorer health were associated with lower utilization of online health-management tools. In Addition, the use of online health-management tools was associated with 34% greater mean number of doctor visits (Incidence-Rate-Ratio = 1.34, S.E. = 0.10, p < 0.05) than non-use. However, the use of online health-management tools was not associated with hospitalization. Indeed, only health care needs - the self-rated health (Odds-Ratio = 0.58, S.E. = 0.18, p < 0.05) and the number of chronic conditions were associated hospitalizations (Odds-Ratio = 1.68, S.E. = 0.07, p < 0.05). More research is needed to clarify the purposes (e.g., prevention vs. treatment) and outcomes of health care service utilization within the context of health care technology use. Yet, it is important to proactively address digital divide as one of upstream strategies for reducing health and health care disparities.