Does Internet Use Impact the Health Status of Middle-Aged and Older Populations? Evidence from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)

Liqing Li, Haifeng Ding and Zihan Li
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Liqing Li: School of Administration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410100, China
Haifeng Ding: School of Administration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410100, China
Zihan Li: School of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316000, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: In the context of both rapid technological development and increasing aging, the relationship between technological development and the health of the middle-aged and older population is gradually receiving academic attention. This study empirically examined the health consequences of the Internet for the middle-aged and older population in China using data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The results indicated that Internet use was effective in improving the self-assessed health and chronic disease status of the middle-aged and older population. However, the effect of Internet use on the improvement of chronic disease conditions in this population was more pronounced than self-assessed health. In the heterogeneity analysis, the effect of Internet use on the health of female and middle-aged adults was more significant than that of male and older adults aged >60 years. This paper also used a propensity score matching model to eliminate the endogeneity problem caused by sample selectivity bias. The results revealed that the propensity score matching model analysis was more robust. Moreover, if sample selectivity bias was not eliminated, the effect of Internet use on the improvement of self-assessed health in the middle-aged and older population would be underestimated, whereas the effect of Internet use on the chronic disease status of the middle-aged and older adults would be overestimated.

Keywords: internet use; middle-aged and older population; self-assessed health; chronic disease status; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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