https://doi.org/10.4081/gc.2021.10301

The use of e-Health and digital technologies in the Italian geriatric practice: a survey of the Italian Geriatric Society (SIGOT)

Vol. 7 No. 3 (2021)
Submitted: 25 November 2021
Accepted: 3 December 2021
Published: 21 December 2021
Elderly, gerontology, technology, tele-medicine, tele-assistance, survey.
Abstract Views: 1793
PDF: 350
HTML: 11
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Alberto Cella
alberto.cella@galliera.it
Department Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, E.O. Ospedali Galliera, Genova, Italy.
Erica Volta
Department Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, E.O. Ospedali Galliera, Genova, Italy.
Jacopo Demurtas
Clinical and Experimental Medicine PhD Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena; Primary Care Department, USL Toscana Sud Est-Grosseto, Grosseto, Italy.
Renato Zaccaria
Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and Systems engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Moira Ceci
Local Health Agency ULSS 18, Rovigo, Italy.
Andrea Pilotto
Neurology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Virginia Boccardi
Department of Medicine, Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Alberto Castagna
Center for Cognitive Disorders and Dementia, ASP Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Carlo Custodero
Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
Francesco Vetta
Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Rome, Italy.
Marina Barbagelata
Department Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, E.O. Ospedali Galliera, Genova, Italy.
Nicola Veronese
Geriatric Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Alberto Pilotto
Department Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, E.O. Ospedali Galliera, Genova; Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.

e-Health technologies may potentially improve healthcare assistance for frail elderly subjects. However, despite the interest and potential benefits of the field, research highlighted that several challenges remain, such as scarce wide spreading of information and communication technology technologies among the elderly and infrastructural difficulties. The aim of this survey was to assess to what extent digital technologies are widespread and used among Italian geriatricians. We conducted an online survey addressed to geriatricians, from the SIGOT (The Italian Geriatric Society) website, collecting the 78 completed questionnaires. We then analyzed with descriptive statistics the data. Results showed a still scarce use of digital technologies in geriatric practice in Italy. However, more than 60% of the SIGOT geriatricians who participated in the survey responded that the use of digital technology had increased significantly due to COVID-19 pandemic and for 80% of the members, the priority areas for the use of technologies for the care and treatment of the elderly are the management of chronic diseases and the prevention of hospitalization.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Arif MJ, El Emary IM, Koutsouris D-D. A review on the technologies and services used in the self-management of health and independent living of elderly. Technol Health Care 2014;22:677-87.
Hamdi O, Chalouf MA, Ouattara D. eHealth: Survey on research projects, comparative study of telemonitoring architectures and main issues. J Network Comput Appl 2014;46:100-12.
Andreasen J, Lund H, Aadahl M. Content validation of the Tilburg Frailty Indicator from the perspective of frail elderly. A qualitative explorative study. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2015;61:392-9.
Peters LL, Boter H, Buskens E. Measurement properties of the Groningen Frailty Indicator in home-dwelling and institutionalized elderly people. J Am Med Direct Assoc 2012;13:546-51.
Urban M. ‘This really takes it out of you!’ The senses and emotions in digital health practices of the elderly. Digit Health 2017;3:2055207617701778.
Stowe S, Harding S. Telecare, telehealth and telemedicine. Eur Geriatr Med 2010;1:193-7.
Barlow J, Singh D, Bayer S. A systematic review of the benefits of home telecare for frail elderly people and those with long-term conditions. J Telemed Telecare 2007;13:172-9.
Santos A, Macedo J, Costa A, et al. Internet of things and smart objects for M-health monitoring and control. Procedia Technol 2014;16:1351-60.
Coyte PC, McKeever P. Home care in Canada: passing the buck. Can J Nurs Res Arch 2016;33:11-25.
Silven AV, Petrus AH, Villalobos-Quesada M, et al. Telemonitoring for patients with COVID-19: recommendations for design and implementation. J Med Internet Res 2020;22:e20953.
Grutters LA, Majoor KI, Mattern ESK, et al. Home telemonitoring makes early hospital discharge of COVID-19 patients possible. J Am Med Inf Assoc JAMIA 2020;27:1825.
Cronfalk BS, Fjell A, Carstens N. Health team for the elderly: a feasibility study for preventive home visits. Prim Health Care Res Dev 2017;18:242-52.
Bobillier Chaumon M-E, Michel C, Tarpin Bernard F. Can ICT improve the quality of life of elderly adults living in residential home care units? From actual impacts to hidden artefacts. Behav Inform Technol 2014;33:574-90.
Lupton D. Towards sensory studies of digital health. London: SAGE Publications Sage UK, 2017.
Pantelopoulos A, Bourbakis NG. A survey on wearable sensor-based systems for health monitoring and prognosis. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern C Appl Rev 2010;40:1-12.
Alemdar H, Ersoy C. Wireless sensor networks for healthcare: A survey. Comp Networks 2010;54:2688-710.
Obrist S, Rogan S, Hilfiker R. Development and evaluation of an online fall-risk questionnaire for nonfrail community-dwelling elderly persons: a pilot study. Curr Gerontol Geriatr Res 2016;2016:1520932.
Dutra MC, Ribeiro RDS, Pinheiro SB. Accuracy and reliability of the Pfeffer Questionnaire for the Brazilian elderly population. Dement Neuropsychol 2015;9:176-83.
Silven A, Petrus A, Villalobos-Quesada M, et al. Telemonitoring for patients with COVID-19: recommendations for design and implementation. J Med Internet Res 2020;22:e20953.
Padilla-Góngora D, López-Liria R, del Pilar D-LM, et al. Habits of the elderly regarding access to the new information and communication technologies. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 2017;237:1412-7.
Sun X, Yan W, Zhou H, et al. Internet use and need for digital health technology among the elderly: a cross-sectional survey in China. BMC Public Health 2020;20:1386.
Cornwell EY, Waite LJ. Social network resources and management of hypertension. J Health Soc Behav 2012;53:215-31.
Leeson GW. The comparison in the effect of use of internet and social support on the depression of the urban elderly: evidence from the sample survey of three cities in West China. Special Zone Econ Issue 2018:89-91.
Heo J, Chun S, Lee S, et al. Internet use and well-being in older adults. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 2015;18:268-72.
Kraaijkamp J, van Dam van Isselt E, Persoon A, et al. eHealth in geriatric rehabilitation: systematic review of effectiveness, feasibility, and usability. J Med Internet Res 2021;23:e24015.

How to Cite

Cella, A., Volta, E., Demurtas, J., Zaccaria, R., Ceci, M., Pilotto, A., Boccardi, V., Castagna, A., Custodero, C., Vetta, F., Barbagelata, M., Veronese, N., & Pilotto, A. (2021). The use of e-Health and digital technologies in the Italian geriatric practice: a survey of the Italian Geriatric Society (SIGOT). Geriatric Care, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/gc.2021.10301

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.