What is known about digital literacy, digital inclusion and attitudes to digital health tools among older adults undergoing surgery? A systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Background Older adults, who are often living with frailty, multimorbidity and cognitive impairment, frequently present to perioperative services. Digital perioperative tools can be used to improve patient experience and outcomes. Little is known about digital literacy, inclusion and attitudes to di...
| Publicado en: | Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 6; pp. 1 - 15 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jun2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195099714&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195099714 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00020729 AGA jtl: Age & Ageing issn: 00020729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 55 iid: 6 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195099714 10.1093/ageing/afag165 ppf: 1 ppct: 14 formats: tig: atl: What is known about digital literacy, digital inclusion and attitudes to digital health tools among older adults undergoing surgery? A systematic review and narrative synthesis. aug: au: Paveley, Amelia M Hall, Harriet M Partridge, Judith S L Dhesi, Jugdeep K affil: Ageing and Health Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, England, UK Ageing and Health Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, England, UKSchool of Life Course and Population Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK su: Information resources Information literacy Patients' attitudes Patient participation Old age Medical information storage & retrieval systems Digital health CINAHL database Operative surgery Systematic reviews MEDLINE Thematic analysis Medical databases Online information services Data analysis software Perioperative care sug: subj: Information resources Information literacy Patients' attitudes Patient participation Old age Medical information storage & retrieval systems Digital health CINAHL database Operative surgery Systematic reviews MEDLINE Thematic analysis Medical databases Online information services Data analysis software Perioperative care keyword: aged ageing attitude caregivers copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 digital access digital health digital health literacy frailty health inequality https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag165 inLanguage:en internet literacy medical devices narrative discourse older people operative perioperative perioperative care publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42258777/ surgical procedures systematic review aged ageing attitude caregivers copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 digital access digital health digital health literacy frailty health inequality https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag165 inLanguage:en internet literacy medical devices narrative discourse older people operative perioperative perioperative care publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42258777/ surgical procedures systematic review ab: Background Older adults, who are often living with frailty, multimorbidity and cognitive impairment, frequently present to perioperative services. Digital perioperative tools can be used to improve patient experience and outcomes. Little is known about digital literacy, inclusion and attitudes to digital tools, and barriers and facilitators to usage, in the perioperative setting for older surgical patients. Methods Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to February 2025. PRISMA guidelines were utilised and the study was registered on PROSPERO. Heterogeneity of study methods and reported outcomes precluded meta-analysis. Gough's Weight of Evidence Framework was used to assess quality of evidence. Results Twenty-four studies were included for narrative synthesis. No studies used a validated measure of digital literacy. Digital access was variably reported. Older adults were less likely than younger people to use the internet, wearable technology and telemedicine. Many studies excluded individuals without access to their own devices, limiting generalisability. Older adults expressed positivity about digital tools but did not universally prefer digital platforms. Barriers to engagement included digital exclusion, poor device usability and patient factors. Support through training or caregivers facilitated engagement. Conclusion Digital perioperative tools are increasingly available but there is a paucity of data on digital literacy, access and usage in the older surgical population. Studies frequently excluded those living with frailty, multimorbidity and cognitive or sensory impairments. Further research is needed to understand the needs, attitudes and digital health literacy of this population, to facilitate codesign of accessible, acceptable and effective perioperative digital health tools. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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