Age differences in digital occupational health service use among Finnish public sector employees

Introduction

The use of digital health services has expanded rapidly, also in occupational health services. Previous research suggests that digital occupational health services (DOHS) are used more frequently by women and individuals in higher socioeconomic positions, while older age is generally associated with lower use of digital health services. However, the association between age and DOHS use remains unclear. This study examined whether DOHS use varied by age among women and men working in the Finnish public sector, while accounting for socioeconomic position (SEP) and healthcare need.

Methods

This register-based study included 43,479 individuals aged 20–64 employed by the City of Helsinki in 2020–2022 (76% women). Associations between age group and DOHS visits per person-year were examined using negative binomial regression, accounting for education, occupation and income as measures of SEP. Sickness absence days were used to control for healthcare need.

Results

Women used DOHS more frequently than men (1.7 vs 1.0 visits per person-year in the 20–29 age group). DOHS use varied by age. In both women and men, employees aged 60–64 used DOHS less than the other age groups (women IRR 0.89, 95% CI 0.85–0.92; men IRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.82–0.99; reference 20–29). Among women, also those aged 30–39 had lower DOHS use (IRR 0.88, 95% CI 0.85–0.91). Adjustment for healthcare need reduced the differences between the other age groups but increased the difference between the oldest and the youngest group.

Conclusions

The results show that DOHS use was unevenly distributed across age groups, even after accounting for differences in socioeconomic structure and healthcare need. The results highlight that occupational health services, including digital options, need to be more equally accessible to all age groups. Future research should investigate long-term trends in age-related DOHS use and identify barriers experienced by older employees.

Key messages

• Age is associated with the use of digital occupational health services, with young and midlife employees utilising them the most and oldest employees the least.

• It is crucial to design more accessible digital occupational health services that address the needs of all employees, including older workers.