Table 1.
Relationship between the use of mobile technology (Internet use and mobile phone) and sociodemographic characteristics, community amenities, and geographic location (weighted).
| Variables | Mean or category |
Total | Internet use | Mobile phone use | ||||||||
| Yes | No | χ2(df) or t (df) |
P | Yes | No | χ2(df) or t (df) |
P | |||||
| Socioeconomic status | ||||||||||||
| Age, in years | Mean | 60.54 | 54.07 | 60.99 | −13.7 (17897) | <.001 | 58.88 | 68.70 | −26.3 (17897) | <.001 | ||
| Gender, n (%) | Female | 9366 (51.42) | 501 (5.35) | 8865 (94.65) | 43.2 (1) | .009 | 7696 (82.17) | 1670 (17.83) | 12.822 (1) | .04 | ||
| Male | 8849 (48.58) | 688 (7.78) | 8160 (92.22) | 7449 (84.18) | 1400 (15.82) | |||||||
| Education, n (%) |
≤Primary school | 11,224 (61.62) | 156 (1.39) | 11,068 (98.61) | 2428.3 (3) | <.001 | 8910 (79.38) | 2314 (20.62) | 296.423 (3) | <.001 | ||
| ≤Middle school | 4029 (22.12) | 268 (6.64) | 3762 (93.36) | 3589 (89.07) | 440 (10.93) | |||||||
| ≤High school/ Vocational school |
2375 (13.04) | 538 (22.67) | 1837 (77.33) | 2135 (89.89) | 240 (10.11) | |||||||
| ≥College | 587 (3.22) | 224 (38.25) | 362 (61.75) | 516 (87.92) | 71 (12.08) | |||||||
| Marital status, n (%) | Unmarried | 2805 (15.40) | 109 (3.88) | 2696 (96.12) | 37.1 (1) | .04 | 1779 (63.41) | 1026 (36.59) | 908.9 (1) | <.001 | ||
| Married | 15,410 (84.60) | 1077 (6.99) | 14,333 (93.01) | 13370 (86.76) | 2040 (13.24) | |||||||
| Living arrangement, n (%) | Empty nest (alone or with spouse) | 10,730 (58.91) | 931 (8.68) | 9799 (91.32) | 279.0 (2) | <.001 | 8690 (80.98) | 2041 (19.02) | 89.9 (2) | <.001 | ||
| Living with children | 1186 (6.51) | 112 (9.41) | 1074 (90.59) | 1041 (87.81) | 145 (12.19) | |||||||
| Living with others | 6299 (34.58) | 144 (2.28) | 6155 (97.72) | 5418 (86.02) | 881 (13.98) | |||||||
| Rural-urban residence, n (%) | Urban | 5554 (30.49) | 984 (17.71) | 4570 (82.29) | 1615.5 (1) | <.001 | 4753 (85.59) | 800 (14.41) | 32.8 (1) | .008 | ||
| Rural | 12,661 (69.51) | 203 (1.60) | 12,459 (98.40) | 10396 (82.11) | 2265 (17.89) | |||||||
| Employment status, n (%) | Not | 7095 (38.95) | 480 (6.77) | 6614 (93.23) | 1.2 (1) | .68 | 5325 (75.05) | 1770 (24.95) | 537.2 (1) | <.001 | ||
| Yes | 11,120 (61.05) | 706 (6.35) | 10,414 (93.65) | 9824 (88.34) | 1297 (11.66) | |||||||
| Income (PCEa), in Chinese Yuan | Mean | 15,914.78 | 33,953.60 | 14,657.84 | 7.9 (17897) | <.001 | 16,511.92 | 12,964.29 | 5.6 (17897) | <.001 | ||
| Health outcomes | ||||||||||||
| Self-reported health, n (%) | Poor | 4663 (25.60) | 125 (2.68) | 4538 (97.32) | 148.8 (1) | <.001 | 3694 (79.22) | 969 (20.78) | 68.5 | <.001 | ||
| Good | 13,552 (74.40) | 1061 (7.83) | 12,491 (92.17) | 11,455 (84.53) | 2096 (15.47) | |||||||
| Having a disability, n (%) | No | 10,993 (60.35) | 846 (7.70) | 10,146 (92.3) | 54.5 (1) | .003 | 9453 (85.99) | 1540 (14.01) | 110.6 (1) | <.001 | ||
| Yes | 7222 (39.65) | 352 (4.88) | 6870 (95.12) | 5779 (80.01) | 1444 (19.99) | |||||||
| Community resources | ||||||||||||
| Neighborhood amenitiesb,c | Mean | 7.10 | 10.83 | 8.84 | 34.4 (17897) | <.001 | 7.15 | 6.9 | 1.8 (17897) | .08 | ||
| Health care facilitiesc,d | Mean | 1.37 | 1.79 | 1.34 | 5.3 (17897) | <.001 | 1.38 | 1.30 | 2.3 (17897) | .02 | ||
| Community organizationsc,e | Mean | 4.40 | 7.14 | 4.21 | 14.2 (17897) | <.001 | 4.38 | 4.50 | −0.7 (17897) | .47 | ||
| Region | ||||||||||||
| East, n (%) | 8058 (44.24) | 728 (9.03) | 7331 (90.97) | 168.9 (2) | <.001 | 6713 (83.3) | 1346 (16.70) | 32.9 (1) |
.003 | |||
| Central, n (%) | 4718 (25.90) | 270 (5.73) | 4447 (94.27) | 3810 (80.76) | 908 (19.24) | |||||||
| West, n (%) | 5439 (29.86) | 188 (3.46) | 5251 (96.54) | 4626 (85.06) | 813 (14.94) | |||||||
aPCE: Per capita expenditure.
bNeighborhood amenities comprised four variables (tap water, toilet, cooking fuel, and waste management); a range of 0 to 14, with higher value meaning higher coverage of modern amenities.
cCommunity/neighborhood data were not available for 2013; it was only available in 2011.
dHealth facilities include six variables such as clinic, pharmacy, and hospital; with a range of 0 to 8.
eCommunity organizations include 14 variables such as having a senior activity room, having a community council, having a playground; a range of 0 to 12, with higher value meaning more community resources.