Digital Determinants of Health: Evaluating the Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Chinese Health Outcomes

Background: The new generation of network information technology has become a significant tool to promote public health. The application of information and communication technology (ICT) in the traditional medical industry has changed the medical service model, improved the public medical service system, and provided diversified medical services to the public. Objective: This paper discusses the impact of ICT on residents' health, and analyzes the possible heterogeneity impact in different groups and its impact mechanism using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data and a fixed-effects model. Methods: The ordinary least squares estimation method was adopted to quantitatively identify the impact mechanism of ICT applications on residents' health. Multisource big data were collected, including the CFPS questionnaire (gender, age, marriage status, work status, income level, smoking, sports, and insurance participation), regional economic development, as well as service industry development. The quantitative phase involved conducting in-depth investigation across 25 Chinese provinces. Then, a quantitative analyse-based study empirically tested the effects of internet applications on residents' health by matching macro data and micro survey data. After controlling for these identified factors, the data were tested using ordinary least squares and fixed effect models, with the assistance of STATA version 14 to measure and validate the proposed model. Results: The regression results support the conclusion that ICT can significantly improve residents' health (p < 0.001). After a series of robustness tests through replacing explanatory variables and choosing appropriate exogenous policy shocks, the results still hold. We analyse the possible heterogeneous effects and conclude that the health-promoting effect of ICT is stronger among middle-aged individuals, high-income groups, women, urban residents, unmarried individual, those who engage in sports and non-smokers. Conclusions: Our study confirms a significant association between ICT applications and residents' health and reveals substantial heterogeneity in this effect. It also provides insights into how to apply internet information to better realise disease surveillance and prevention goals.