The association between the type of offline social participation and digital literacy among Korean older adults

Abstract Background Poor social connections are associated with the digital divide. The digital divide could induce poor outcomes in daily life or health status, especially among older adults. This study aimed to investigate the effect of social participation based on its absolute magnitude on digital literacy and to confirm the well-known fact that social participations are good for digital literacy is applicable regardless of activity types. Methods Data from the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans were analyzed. The digital divide was determined by usage of digital devices. Offline social participation was evaluated using seven different social activities: senior community activities, learning activities, religious activities, volunteer work, leisure, political groups, and club activities. Multivariable logistic regression analysis with covariate adjustment was used for the analysis. Results Engaging in more than two kinds of social participation was associated with good digital literacy: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.965, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 1.567–2.465 for two kinds of participation, aOR 2.558, 95% CI = 2.040–3.208 for more than three kinds of participation. Also, social participations even less than once a month and most types of offline activities were associated with better digital literacy. However, senior community activities were negatively associated with digital literacy (aOR = 0.762; 95% CI = 0.681–0.852). Conclusions The lower the social participation, the poorer the digital literacy. This association would induce the isolation of older adults from societies especially for older adults with senior community activities.