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Digital hypochondria, over 65 increasingly connected

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They started to get familiar with the web late, but in this long year of pandemic even the over 65s have become more digital. Not being able to go out often or go to the doctor to get rid of some doubts, the internet has also become a precious source of information for them. Sometimes, even too much, to the point where we talk about ‘digital hypochondria’. In particular, more and more people, in addition to compulsively interrogating Dr. Google, are looking on the net for very popular and cheap devices that give the possibility to check their vital parameters (sometimes obsessively) such as smart-watches and blood pressure and heart rhythm meters. , with the risk of creating anxiety or, worse still, misdiagnosis. Online research becomes even more urgent in these days when many seniors are exasperated by the vaccination ‘lottery’ and feel neglected.

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More and more digital seniors

In the year of the pandemic in Italy, spending on devices that allow self-measurement of all body parameters reached about half a billion, with a per capita expenditure of about 40 euros, often borne by children concerned about the health of their parents. A ‘photograph’ also confirmed by a research carried out by AstraRicerche for “emporia”, the Austrian manufacturer of smartphones and mobile devices that are easy to use for the over 60s. It emerged that 72.6% of respondents say that the pandemic has shown them how important it is that all generations are digitally capable, while 61.9% replied that their mobile phone prevented them from feeling excluded from external relations during the lockdown. 49.4% during these months have discovered new features of their mobile devices, while 39.5% have felt the need to change or buy a new phone.

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More informed and autonomous: the ‘case’ of the oximeter

The greater digitization of the over 65s can be positive because it keeps them cognitively active and makes them more autonomous. The boom in pulse oximeters that were unknown to most people before Covid-19 is emblematic. From a survey conducted by the portal QualiS Scelere.it, it was seen that in November 2020 the guide dedicated to pulse oximeters obtained over 93 thousand visits (compared to about 30 thousand in the previous month) and among the users most likely to buy, immediately after the age group between 35 and 44 years (23% of total visits) there are those over 65 (22%). “All digital technologies, starting from smartphones, can represent a driving force for cardiovascular prevention and this is confirmed by the boom in sales of devices for monitoring heart function: from electronic bracelets to Apps, to smartwatches for the transmission of the electrocardiogram”, declares Alessandro Boccanelli, president of the Italian Society of Geriatric Cardiology (SICGe).

The risks of “do it yourself” online

Among other things, the digitization of those who are no longer young also serves to make them socialize with children and grandchildren at a distance, thus helping them to feel less alone. But beware of the possible risks of excessive use of the web. According to the latest Istat data, in Italy there are over 8 million over-65s suffering from at least one chronic disease, 5 and a half million who have at least three and about 2 million elderly people forced to take at least 10 drugs a day. Individuals who, precisely because of their delicate situation, should be cautious in their choices regarding their health, especially when it comes to purchasing devices for the control of certain parameters on their own. “Self-monitoring must not be confused with the diagnosis that must always be performed by the doctor, regardless of the technical data that cannot be substituted for the health worker. Instead there is the belief that by using them you can bypass the health professional who must always suggest their use, otherwise the risk is to make everyone feel a little sick. This is especially true for the elderly who live at home, often unaware victims of obsessive “do-it-yourself” control and more exposed to the risk of an excess of medicalization and increasing suffering and anxiety “.

Alerts that create panic

What can the risk actually be? “It often happens, for example, that the blood pressure device sends a warning message of a presumed atrial fibrillation, but if the patient is not at risk he need not worry”, recommends Boccanelli. “You must therefore talk to your doctor always using the healthcare professional as a filter, understand if you are a person at risk, if it is appropriate to use digital technology and share data.

Re-thinking medical care for over 65s

If for the over 65s the experimentation of digitalization has lights and shadows, doctors for their part must deal with a need that can no longer be ignored: that of reorganizing the relationship with the elderly patient. The Covid emergency has given a significant boost and highlighted the key role of digital technology especially applied to cardiology. The continuous monitoring of vital parameters and the collection of related data which in these months of isolation and distancing have experienced a surge, however, have upset the balance of the relationship between doctor and patient, especially for the no longer young. “The redesign of health care must take into account the opportunities that the digital revolution offers, but in this context the management of diagnosis and treatment must be entrusted to the doctor and not to the citizen who risks feeling ill and hypermedicalized” concludes the expert.

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