The impact of digitalisation on the development of physical activity of older people (through the example of European Union countries)

Abstract

The digital transformation of society creates new opportunities for the involvement of older population in physical fitness and sports activities, however, the nature and the power of the impact exerted by various aspects of digitalisation on the physical activity level remain understudied. The goal of the study is to identify digital factors and to assess their impact on the physical activity of older population. The study was conducted using a sample of 27 European Union countries for the period 2015–2024 with the use of physical activity indicators of population aged 60–74 years, the level of internet usage by this age group, digital skills of population, the e-Governance development index, and gross domestic product per capita. Correlation analysis was used to identify relationship between variables under study. Statistical methods were selected taking account of the results of data distribution normality testing with the use of the Shapiro–Wilk criterion. The Granger causality test was used to measure the direction of identified relationship. Estimates were made using the Stata software. The findings of the study confirmed the existence of statistically significant positive correlation between digitalisation indicators and the level of physical activity of older population. The strongest relationship was discovered between the digital skills of population and the level of physical activity of people aged 60–74 years ( r  = 0.781; p  < 0.01). A significant impact was also demonstrated by the internet usage by the population of older age groups ( r  = 0.712; p  < 0.01) and the e-Governance development index ( r  = 0.637; p  < 0.01). The Granger causality test’s results showed that digital skills precede changes in the level of physical activity in 18 European Union countries, while the internet usage in 16 countries, and the e-Governance development in 13 countries. The findings suggest that the digitalisation can be regarded as one of factors for the development of physical activity of older population. The practical significance of the study consists in the opportunity to use the findings in the development of active longevity programs, digital inclusion of older citizens, and digital transformation projects in the field of physical fitness and sports.