Page 120 - IJPS-10-4

International Journal of

Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Gender disparities in telehealth use among older

adults in the United States during the COVID-19
pandemic

1
Xiayu Summer Chen * and Kun Wang 2
1 School of Social Work, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign–Urbana, Illinois,
United States of America
2 Department of Social Work, College of Community and Public Affairs, The State University of
New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York, United States of America

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic underscored the significance of
telehealth as a health-care delivery method, particularly for the vulnerable older adult
population. Nonetheless, disparities in accessing and utilizing telehealth services
persist, influenced by demographic and socioeconomic factors such as gender. This
study aims to investigate the utilization of telehealth services among older adults
in the United States, focusing on gender-related disparities and associated factors.
Using the Round 10 and COVID-19 supplement data from the National Health
and Aging Trends Study, the study examined 3,257 participants (male: 42.06%;
female: 57.94%). We compared the use of telehealth services before and during the
pandemic and conducted a series of logistic regression models to assess factors
*Corresponding author: linked to telehealth utilization by gender. Overall, there was a significant shift toward
Xiayu Summer Chen
(xiayuyc2@illinois.edu) greater use of telehealth among females during the pandemic, with multimorbidity
significantly influencing the relationship between gender and telehealth utilization.
Citation: Chen, X.S. & Wang, K. For males, those who had multimorbidity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.03; 95% confidence
(2024). Gender disparities in
telehealth use among older adults interval [CI] = 1.07 – 3.84), owned a tablet before COVID-19 (OR = 1.89; 95%
in the United States during the CI = 1.13 – 3.14), and learned new technologies during the pandemic (OR = 2.29; 95%
COVID-19 pandemic. CI = 1.37 – 3.82) had higher odds of telehealth use. For females, those with worse self-
International Journal of Population
Studies, 10(4): 114-124. reported health scores (OR = 1.28; 95% CI = 1.03 – 1.59), owned a tablet (OR = 2.07;
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1817 95% CI = 1.32 – 3.23), and learned new technology (OR = 3.37; 95% CI = 2.17 – 5.24)
Received: September 12, 2023 during the pandemic demonstrated increased odds of telehealth use. Gender-based
differences in telehealth utilization were evident, highlighting the need for targeted
Accepted: December 6, 2023 interventions that enhance older adults’ access to telehealth services and mitigate
Published Online: July 9, 2024 digital disparities.
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the Keywords: Digital technology; Social work; Telehealth; Gender disparity; Coronavirus
Creative Commons Attribution disease 19
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience 1. Introduction
Publishing remains neutral with The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented unprecedented
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional challenges to health-care systems worldwide. With its onset, many health-care
affiliations. practitioners and health systems transitioned from traditional ambulatory in-office

Volume 10 Issue 4 (2024) 114 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1817