Social media has remarkably transformed the way every age group communicate and socialize with each other.[1] Social media is likeable not only by young people but by elderly too and provides different dimension to elders who has reduced mobility and who are staying distant in time or place.[4,5] Currently smartphones has become a standard tool of communication and help to ease the tedious task of our everyday existence.[2] Mobile phones has become a valuable tool in continuing social interactions and help elderly to remain active.[3] Internet has become the basic necessity of our life and it has impact on our daily quality time spent with our loved ones. Elderly are susceptible to many psychological problems. Loneliness for varying reasons like death of spouse or family members, shifted to old age homes.[6,7] Loneliness has become a huge challenge among elderly harming physical health. Social media incredibly improves social interaction and thereby reduce loneliness.[8] Overutilization of mobile phones can cause various ill effects such as dry eyes, watering eyes, vision loss, eye pain.[9] Smartphones plays a vital role in making health services more accessible and overall improving health of elderly.[10] In this study we want to assess purpose of smartphone usage among elderly and impact it has on various health aspects, social gathering and loneliness.

Aims/Objectives:

1. To study socio-demographic profile of elderly
2. To assess health impacts of social media usage among elderly

3 To Find association between these variables

Methodology:

This study was conducted over a period of 1 year from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2020 in a field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Patiala. Tripuri had a total population of 10,239. Among them, elderly population was 1222, out of which 612 were males & 610 were females. It is divided into 4 localities namely Gurubhawan, Kashmiri Gurudwara, MCH Tripuri & Guru Nanak Nagar. The geriatric population is 176, 329, 407, and 310 respectively in these areas. The Socio-economic status of population was assessed using Modified Kuppuswamy Socio-economic scale,2019.[11]

Study Design: A Community based Cross-sectional Study

SAMPLE SIZE

 The sample size was calculated by formula 4pq/L2, calculation was based on the assumption of prevalence to be 50% with allowable error of 5%, sample size came out to be 400. By applying probability proportion to size (PPS) the sample came out to be 58,108,133 and 102 from these respective localities. Elderly were selected by house to house survey from all the 4 localities. The elderly population who has completed 60 years of age at the time of interview & willing to participate in the study were included after taking written informed consent. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the institution ethics committee.

SELECTION CRITERIA –

INCLUSION CRITERIA

1)Person aged 60 years or above

 2)Elderly who gave consent to participate in the study

EXCLUSION CRITERIA

 Elderly persons 60 years & above who are deaf, dumb, congenitally impaired &non –cooperative.

DATA COLLECTION

 The data was collected using a pretested, validated and semi-structured questionnaire through face to face interview by the investigator with eligible candidates. Each individual in the study was subjected to personal interview through a culturally sensitive questionnaire which was framed to collect the information. Privacy & confidentiality of participants was ensured.

ANALYSIS

The Collected data was entered using Microsoft Excel Software 2021 and it was cleaned and was analysed using epi- info 7.2.2.1.6. The data was descriptively described and chi square test was applied.

In this community based cross-sectional study, among 400 elderly people residing in urban settlement of field practice area. Majority were females, in 60-69 years, married, stayed in nuclear family and 92.5% belonged to lower class of Modified Kuppuswamy socio –economic status scale. (Table no 1)

*Others – Unmarried, Separated, Divorced

**Others -Relatives

 Most of elderly around 354 (88.5%) were using mobile phones for around 10-15 years. The main purpose for which they use mobile phones were making / receiving calls. (Table no 2 and figure no 3)

TABLE NO 3 Distribution of participants as per their mobile phone usage & demographic variables

      *Others – Unmarried, Separated, Divorced

      **Others – Relatives, Children

Association between mobile phones usage and certain demographic variables for instance; age, marital status, stay, socio-economic status were highly significant. However, gender has not significant association with mobile phone usage. (Table no 4)

TABLE NO 4 Distribution of participants as per their social media usage & other variables

*Psychological Issues– sadness, empty, stressed, decreased interest in day to day activities.

** Eye Problems – watering of eyes, loss of vision, neck and eye pain.

Social gathering has highly significant association but loneliness is not significantly related with social media usage. Psychological Issues has significant affect with usage of social media. Majority of elderly has noticed eye problems after using social media for more than 5 years. It does not have any significant co-relation with physical activity. (Table no 5)

In this community based cross-sectional study, among 400 elderly people residing in urban settlement of field practice area, maximum belonged to age group of 60-69 years i.e 241 (60.25%), 51.5% were females, 84.75% were married, 52% belonged to nuclear family,70 % staying with family and 92.75% were from lower class (Modified Kuppuswamy socio –economic status scale). Almost Similar findings were found in a study done by Barua, et al during 2017 in community- based study among elderly living in urban slum areas of Jorhat Town of Assam. Out of total 125 participants, Most of them (37.6%) belonged to age group of 65–69 years. Among them, 64 (51.2%) were females, 66 (52.8%) were married and living with their spouses. Regarding living arrangements, 10% of elderly were staying alone while remaining 90% residing with family - 60% in joint families, and 30% in nuclear families.[12] Almost Similar findings were found in a study done by Sharma TP where the majority of respondents (37.2%) are between the ages of 60 and 64, and 65-69-year-olds are the next largest category, accounting for 24.8% of responses, followed by 70 to 74-year-olds (16.5%) and 75 to 79-year-olds (13%). The gender distribution is fairly even, with slightly more male respondents (52.1%) than female respondents (47.9%). The marital status among elderly reflects general pattern: 55.4% were married, 28.9% were widowed, and 15.7% were single or divorced. Similar finding of both studies as people ever married is 85% in both studies and 15% single.[8]

In this study, 354 (88.5%) participants had been using mobile phones for around 15 years. The primary purpose of mobile phone usage was to make and receive calls.

Nearly Similar findings were reported in a study by Westermeyer et al, in which 399  participants aged between 60 to 99 were interviewed. Among them, 159 (39.8%) possess a mobile phone and average usability among the elderly people was 71.7% (n = 114).[13]

Out of 400 participants, 251 (70.90%) were using social media with certain platforms being more preferred. Particularly, 34.46% used WhatsApp while 36.44% were using all three platforms - WhatsApp, Facebook and Google. However, Social media users tended to report feeling less lonely as compared to non-user, the difference wasn’t that significant.

In a study by sun et al, 669 elderly were randomly selected from 13 cities in Heilongjiang province and interviewed between May 1 to July 31, 2018. Out of 669 respondents, 258 (38.6%) were using Internet.  Approximately half of users (53.9%) spent less than two hours online per day, and above two-thirds (75.2%) gain access for 5–7days a week. Chatting online (74.2%) was the popular activity among them, followed by reading the news (59%), watching films and listening to music (32.7%) and Shopping (6.8%).[14]

 In our study, social gathering showed a highly significant association with social media usage.  Those using social media was feeling less lonely i.e 187 (63.38%) compared to non-users, although difference was not statistically significant. Similar findings were noticed in study conducted by Bonsaksen et al. (2023) which indicated higher levels of social media use may help to reduce feelings of isolation. Their  research spotlight an inverse relationship between loneliness and social media use.[15]

Increased social media use is significantly associated with a reduction in quality time spent with grandchildren. As no comparable studies were found, these findings appear to be particularly relevant – suggesting that higher social media engagement may negatively impact intergenerational bonding.

In a study conducted by Chen et al digital literacy was shown to promote the health status of the elderly by assisting access to online medical resources, enabling virtual  consultations and supporting appropriate medical treatment.[10] Similarly, our findings indicate that social media usage has positive impact on the health of elderly by increasing awareness and motivating consultation with qualified physicians.

In our study, elderly individuals who used social media exhibited fewer psychological issues and a significant association was observed between social media usage and psychological well - being.

The study by Sudheer, A., & Saligram, D et al demonstrated a moderate negative correlation between social media use and psychological wellbeing among young adults, which was significant at 0.01 level. It indicates that as social media use increases, psychological wellbeing decreases whereas reduction in social media use is associated with improved psychological wellbeing.[16] The nature of content was not described in any of the studies. This neglect is significant, as social media content is highly dependent on geographical and cultural context.

In our study, Majority of elderly has noticed eye problems such as effect on vision, watering of eyes, eye and neck pain after using social media.

Whereas in study conducted by Usgaonkar U et al showed those using digital devices for more than 6 h showed a marked increase in the symptom scores, including watering eyes (P < 0.0005), dry eyes (P < 0.0005), red eyes (P = 0.006), shoulder pain (P = 0.038), back pain (P = 0.003), headache (P = 0.030) and total symptoms score (P = 0.009). [17]

 In a study conducted by Qinrui Hu et al., a total of 8211 elderly aged 50 years and older were enrolled. Of these, 6,942 participants (84.5%) completed the questionnaire and were eventually included in this study. The mean age of the participants was 64.2±8.8 years. The study found that complaints of distance vision loss, near vision loss, ocular surface discomfort were significantly more common among smartphone users compared to non-users (P<0.001, respectively. Moreover, as smartphone usage time increased, the prevalence of ocular surface discomfort increased significantly in both the urban and rural subgroups (P=0.022 and P=0.043, respectively. [18]

Our findings revealed no significant association between social media use and physical activity. In contrast, Shen et al reported a regression coefficient of 0.099 for internet use predicting physical activity - significant at the p < 0.001 level – indicating a strong positive association between the two variables, whereby elderly individuals who spend more time online were more likely to engage in physical activity.[19]  In the study by Shimoga et al, social media was found to have diverse association with daily exercise habits based on students activity levels. Among physically active students, frequent use of social media was positively associated with likelihood of engaging in vigorous daily exercise (ME 50.1%, 95% CI 49.2%-51.0%). In contrast, for sedentary students, frequent social media use was negatively associated with the likelihood of participating in daily physical exercise (ME 15.8%, 95% CI 15.1%-16.4%).[20]

Our findings of this study revealed higher social media usage was unaffected by gender but was more prevalent among married individuals and those staying with family. There were certain notable benefits with increased social media usage specifically socially and psychological, involving enhanced social interactions with fewer psychological issues, greater quality time spent with grandchildren and higher probability of consulting qualified healthcare practitioners. Regardless, increased usage has been linked to negative health effects such as decreased physical activity and higher incidence of eye problems. Overall, social media provides opportunity to improve social engagement and mental well- being among elderly, which in turn helps to alleviate significant physical health risks.

1. Ractham P, Techatassanasoontorn A, Kaewkitipong L. Old but not out: Social media use and older adults' life satisfaction. Australasian Journal of Information Systems. 2022 Feb 27;26.                          2.  Kalimullah K, Sushmitha D. Influence of design elements in mobile applications on user experience of elderly people. Procedia computer science. 2017 Jan 1;113:352-9.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    3.  Nasir MH, Hassan H, Jomhari N. The use of mobile phones by elderly: A study in Malaysia perspectives. Journal of Social Sciences. 2008;4(2):1237.                                                                                                                                                                      4.  Erickson, L.B.: Social media, social capital, and seniors: the impact of Facebook on bonding and bridging social capital of individuals over 65. In: Presented at the AMCIS (2011).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  5.  Nef, T., Ganea, R.L., Müri, R.M., Mosimann, U.P.: Social networking sites and older users – a systematic review. Int. Psychogeriatr. 25(7), 1041–1053 (2013). 007/001, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610213000355.                                               6. Ong, A. 6. D., Uchino, B. N., & Wethington, E. (2016). Loneliness and health in older adults: A mini-review and synthesis. Gerontology, 62(4), 443–449. doi:10.1159/000441651.                                                                                               7. Victor,  C.  R., & Bowling,  A. (2012). A longitudinal analysis of loneliness among older people in Great Britain. The Journal of Psychology, 146(3), 313–331. doi:10.1080/00223980.2011.60 9572.      
2. Sharma TP. The Role of Social Media in Reducing Loneliness among Senior Citizens in Lamki Chuha Municipality of Kailali District, Nepal. Pragyaratna प्रज्ञारत्न. 2024 Oct 24;6(2):128-35. 9.  Hu Q, Li Y, Wang B, Qin X, Ren T, Hu Y,Li X. The correlation between near vision and smartphone use among ageing populations. Ann Palliat Med 2022;11(2):560-567.doi: 10.21037/apm-21-3.                                                                                     10.  Chen X, Wang N. How does digital literacy affect the health status of senior citizens? Micro-level evidence from the CFPS data. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 Jan 27;25(1):153. doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-12314-7. PMID: 39871247; PMCID: PMC11773774.                                                                                                           11.  Wani RT. Socioeconomic status scales-modified Kuppuswamy and Udai Pareekh's scale updated for 2019. Journal of family medicine and primary care. 2019 Jun 1;8(6):1846-9.                                                                                                              12.  Barua K, Borah M, Deka C, Kakati R. Morbidity pattern and health-seeking behavior of elderly in urban slums: A cross-sectional study in Assam, India. J Family Med Prim Care 2017;6:345-50                                                                                    13.   Briede-Westermeyer JC, Pacheco-Blanco B, Luzardo-Briceño M, Pérez-Villalobos C. Mobile phone use by the elderly: Relationship between usability, social activity, and the environment. Sustainability. 2020 Mar 30;12(7):2690.                        
3. Sun X, Yan W, Zhou H, Wang Z, Zhang X, Huang S, Li L. Internet use and need for digital health technology among the elderly: a cross-sectional survey in China. BMC public health. 2020 Dec;20:1-8.                                                            15.  Bonsaksen T, Ruffolo M, Price D, Leung J, Thygesen H, Lamph G, Kabelenga I, Geirdal AØ. Associations between social media use and loneliness in a cross-national population: do motives for social media use matter? Health psychology and behavioral medicine. 2023 Dec 31;11(1):2158089.                                                   16.  Sudheer, A., & Saligram, D. (2023). Social Media Use, Fear of Missing Out and Psychological Wellbeing Among Young Adults. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 11(2), 2392-2401. DIP:18.01.239.20231102, DOI:10.25215/1102.239        
4. Usgaonkar U, Shet Parkar SR, Shetty A. Impact of the use of digital devices on eyes during the lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 Jul;69(7):1901-1906. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_3500_20. PMID: 34146054; PMCID: PMC8374748. 18.  Hu Q, Li Y, Wang B, Qin X, Ren T, Hu Y,Li X. The correlation between near vision and smartphone use among ageing populations. Ann Palliat Med 2022;11(2):560-567.doi: 10.21037/apm-21-3 .                                                                                    19.  Shen Y, Lu C, Wang B. The impact of internet use on physical activity among Chinese older adults: the mediating role of social support. Front Public Health. 2025 Jan 23;13:1492188.doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1492188. PMID: 39916702; PMCID: PMC11801014.                                                                                                          20.  Shimoga SV, Erlyana E, Rebello V. Associations of Social Media Use With Physical Activity and Sleep Adequacy Among Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Survey. J Med Internet Res. 2019 Jun 18;21(6):e14290. doi: 10.2196/14290. PMID: 31215512; PMCID: PMC6604510.