Online health information seeking during COVID-19 pandemic and its association with psychological well-being in Chinese older adults

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the surge of health information, including misinformation or infodemic. This study aimed to investigate the online health information seeking and its effects on psychological well-being among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This multi-country, cross-sectional study included data gathered from April to May 2020 on older adults aged >60 years from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Descriptive statistics were used to identify health information-seeking patterns. Logistic regression was used to determine associations of the patterns with psychological well-being. Results: 180 older adults were included. Most had accessed the internet to seek COVID-19 information. Information sources included search engines, news portals, social media, video sharing sites, and online encyclopaedias. Health-specific platforms were seldom accessed. Information sought included the spread of COVID-19, transmission routes, and symptoms. Older adults' psychological well-being was positively associated with availability of health information in Chinese (OR=4.69, p