• Boon Peng Ng, Georgianne Tiu Hawkins, McKayla Massey, Jacqueline B LaManna, and Chanhyun Park.
• College of Nursing, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida; Disability, Aging and Technology Cluster, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida. Electronic address: boonpeng.ng@ucf.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2024 Nov 1; 67 (5): 746752746-752.

IntroductionSuccessful delivery of the virtual Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) is influenced by a beneficiary's access to a computer and use of the Internet.MethodsUsing the 2020 nationally representative Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Public Use File, a three-level categorical dependent variable was created: (1) has a computer AND uses Internet, (2) has a computer OR uses Internet, and (3) has no access to either (reference group). A survey-weighted multinomial logit model was performed in 2023 to examine associations between socio-demographics, comorbidities, and computer access and Internet use.ResultsOf study beneficiaries aged ≥65 years with BMI≥25 kg/m2 and no history of diabetes (n=3,875), 70.8% had a computer AND used Internet; 14.3% had a computer OR used Internet; and 14.9% had no computer AND did not use Internet. Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks (OR=0.28, 95% CI [0.17-0.43]) were less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to have a computer AND use Internet. Beneficiaries with less education (ConclusionsApproximately 30% of potentially MDPP-eligible beneficiaries (representing ∼6 million beneficiaries) lacked full digital access. Efforts to encourage enrollment in the virtual MDPP must address digital disparities for beneficiaries at-risk for type 2 diabetes.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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