A survey of World Wide Web use in middle-aged and older adults

We conducted a survey to document World Wide Web use patterns in middle-age d (ages 40-59), young-old (ages 60-74), and old-old adults (ages 75-92). We conducted this survey of 550 adults 40 years old and over in southeastern Michigan, and the overall response rate was approximately 71%. The results suggested that (a) there are distinct age and demographic differences in in dividuals who use the Web; (b) middle-aged and older Web users are similar in their use patterns; (c) the two primary predictors for not using the Web are lack of access to a computer and lack of knowledge about the Web; (d) old-old adults have the least interest in using the Web compared with middl e-aged and young-old adults; and (e) the primary content areas in learning how to use the Web are learning how to use electronic mail and accessing he alth information and information about traveling for pleasure. This researc h may serve as a preliminary attempt to ascertain the issues that must be f aced in order to increase use of the World Wide Web in middle-aged and olde r adults.