Progress on Broadband Access to the Internet and Use of Mobile Devices in the United States Tracking Healthy People 2020 Goals

• Published in: Public health reports (1974) Vol. 132; no. 1; pp. 27 - 31
• Main Authors: Serrano, Katrina J., Thai, Chan L., Greenberg, Alexandra J., Blake, Kelly D., Moser, Richard P., Hesse, Bradford W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE 01.01.2017; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Access; Brief Report; Broadband; Broadband communication systems; Cellular communication; Demographics; Electronic devices; Health; Health promotion; Information technology; Internet; Internet access; Medical technology; Networks; Polls & surveys; Public health; Technology; United States > US; health information technology; health information national trends survey; Healthy People 2020; health communication
• ISSN: 0033-3549; 1468-2877
• DOI: 10.1177/0033354916679365

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) aims to improve population health outcomes through several objectives, including health communication and health information technology. We used 7 administrations of the Health Information National Trends Survey to examine HP2020 goals toward access to the Internet through broadband and mobile devices (N = 34 080). We conducted descriptive analyses and obtained predicted marginals, also known as model-adjusted risks, to estimate the association between demographic characteristics and use of mobile devices. The HP2020 target (7.7% of the US population) for accessing the Internet through a cellular network was surpassed in 2014 (59.7%), but the HP2020 target (83.2%) for broadband access fell short (63.8%). Sex and age were associated with accessing the Internet through a cellular network throughout the years (Wald F test, P <.05). The increase in the percentage of people accessing the Internet through mobile devices presents an opportunity for technology-based health interventions that should be explored.