Background: The demographic determinants of hesitancy in Coronavirus Disease—2019 (COVID-19) vaccination include rurality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In the second year of the pandemic, in South Tyrol, Italy, 15.6 percent of a representative adult sample reported hesitancy. Individual factors responsible for greater vaccination hesitancy in rural areas of central Europe are poorly understood. Methods: A cross-sectional survey on a probability-based sample of South Tyrol residents in March 2021 was analyzed. The questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, COVID-19-related experiences, conspiracy thinking, and the likelihood of accepting the national vaccination plan. A logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: Among 1426 survey participants, 17.6% of the rural sample (n = 145/824) reported hesitancy with COVID-19 vaccination versus 12.8% (n = 77/602) in urban residents (p = 0.013). Rural residents were less likely to have post-secondary education, lived more frequently in households with children under six years of age, and their economic situation was worse than before the pandemic. Chronic diseases and deaths due to COVID-19 among close relatives were less frequently reported, and trust in pandemic management by national public health institutions was lower, as was trust in local authorities, civil protection, and local health services. Logistic regression models confirmed the most well-known predictors of hesitancy in both urban and rural populations; overall, residency was not an independent predictor. Conclusion: Several predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas, which may explain the lower vaccine uptake in rural areas. Rurality is not a determinant of vaccine hesitancy in the economically well-developed North of Italy.

Background: Digital health technologies offer the potential to improve the daily lives of older adults, maintain their health efficiently, and allow aging in place. Despite increasing evidence of benefits and advantages, readiness for adopting digital interventions among older people remains underexplored. Objective: This study aims to explore the relationships between sociodemographic-, health-, and lifestyle-related factors and technology use in everyday life and community-dwelling older adults’ readiness to adopt telemedicine, smartphones with texting apps, wearables, and robotics. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, population-based survey study with a stratified probabilistic sample of adults aged 75 years or older living in South Tyrol (autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen, Italy). A random sample of 3600 community-dwelling older adults living at home was invited to complete a questionnaire including single items (older adults’ readiness to use health technology) and scales (PRISMA-7; Program of Research on Integration of Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy). Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the data. Results: In total, 1695 community-dwelling older adults completed the survey (for a response rate of 47%). In terms of potential digital health technology adoption, wearable devices were favored by 33.7% (n=571), telemedicine by 30.1% (n=510), smartphones and texting apps by 24.5% (n=416), and assistant robots by 13.7% (n=232). Sociodemographic-, health- and lifestyle-related factors, as well as the use of technology in everyday life, played a significant role in explaining readiness to adopt digital health technologies. For telemedicine, age ≥85 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.56-0.96), financial constraints (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.49-0.95), and less than 2 hours of physical activity per week (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.58-0.98) were associated with nonreadiness, while Italian-speaking participants (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.16-2.05) and those regularly using computers (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.16-2.60), smartphones (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.22-2.35), and the internet (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.47-3.49) reported readiness for adoption. Conclusions: Community-dwelling older adults display varied readiness toward the adoption of digital health technologies, influenced by age, mother tongue, living situation, financial resources, physical activity, and current use of technology. The findings underscore the need for tailored interventions and educational programs to boost digital health technology adoption among community-dwelling older adults.

The acquisition of reliable health information plays a pivotal role in shaping informed decision-making and health-related behaviours. This investigation examined the factors influencing health information use and trust in health information sources among the adult population in South Tyrol, Italy, employing a population-based cross-sectional survey (n = 2090). Descriptive analyses revealed sociodemographic disparities, with younger individuals and those with higher educational attainment demonstrating increased engagement with digital sources, while older adults and those with lower educational levels exhibited a greater reliance on traditional media and healthcare professionals. Correlation analyses showed that elevated health literacy (HLS-EU-Q16) was linked to enhanced engagement with structured and professional health sources, whereas higher patient activation (PAM-10) exhibited a negative correlation with a dependence on healthcare professionals, indicating that more activated individuals are less reliant on medical consultations for health information. Individuals reporting a better health status were less inclined to use health information sources, such as media, healthcare professionals, or the internet, as opposed to relying on personal knowledge or experience. Ordinal regression models further identified age, education, and linguistic background as crucial predictors of health information use and trust in sources. These findings highlight the influence of health literacy and patient activation on information engagement and trust and emphasise the need for tailored public health initiatives to ensure equitable access to reliable health information across diverse demographic groups.

It remains unclear how sleep health has developed in the general population after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to (1) investigate the prevalence of sleep problems and poor sleep quality and (2) explore the associated sociodemographic and health-related factors in South Tyrol, Italy. A cross-sectional, population-based survey was conducted with a stratified probabilistic sample of 4000 adults aged ≥ 18 years. Sleep quality was assessed using the brief version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the data. A total of 2090 adults (53%) completed the survey. Poor sleep quality was reported by 17.8%, with 28.2% of participants reporting insufficient sleep duration (i.e., six hours or less), 12.7% having problems staying asleep (i.e., waking up to 3–4 times a week and unable to fall asleep again), and 8.7% having problems falling asleep (i.e., >30 min). Sleep problems and poor sleep quality were associated with sociodemographic and health-related factors, including gender, age, mother tongue, chronic disease, and sleep hygiene. Notably, Italian-speaking participants reported poorer sleep quality and greater difficulty staying asleep compared to German-speaking participants, highlighting potential sociocultural influences on sleep health. This study contributes to understanding the unique sleep health challenges in a multilingual region, highlighting the role of sociocultural factors in sleep quality differences between language groups.

Background: During the coronavirus pandemic, altruism has been linked to personal protective behavior, vaccine development, and vaccination intention. Studies of the moderating effects of age on altruism in pandemic preparedness have not yet been conducted. Methods: A representative cross-sectional survey of residents of South Tyrol, Italy, was conducted in March 2021. Among the participants, 1169 were aged 18–69 years, and 257 were aged ≥ 70 years. The questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic and individual characteristics, including comorbidities, COVID-19-related experiences, trust in information, the likelihood of accepting the national vaccination plan, and altruism. A linear regression analysis was performed. Results: Among 1426 participants, the median altruism sum score was 24 (interquartile range, 20–26). In the participant group aged ≥ 70 years, the median altruism score was significantly higher than that in the younger group. Participants living in a single household were significantly less altruistic than other participants, while participants working in the health sector, living in a household at risk from coronavirus disease 2019, or suffering from a chronic disease were found to be more altruistic. Altruism showed significant positive correlations with age and agreement with the national vaccination plan and was negatively correlated with well-being. Trust in institutions was positively correlated with altruism only in the younger age group but not in the elderly. Linear regression models confirmed female gender and identified trust in institutions as a positive predictor of altruism. In the younger age group, increased well-being and restricted individual sports activities were associated with reduced altruism, whereas support of compulsory self-isolation after contact with a SARS-CoV-2-positive person and handwashing as a personal protective measure were positively associated. Conclusion: Altruism is associated with various predictors of pandemic behavior and traits. The strengths of the identified positive and negative correlations support the modifying role of age in the effects of altruism on pandemic attitudes. Interventions that are likely to enhance altruism to improve pandemic preparedness in certain age groups require further study.

Altruism plays an essential role in promoting vaccine uptake, an issue that came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic through discussions of herd immunity and altruistic motivations. In response, the primary objective of this cross-sectional survey was to explore how altruistic attitudes have evolved in the post-pandemic era and to assess their effectiveness in motivating vaccination behavior in different age groups. The study aimed to elucidate changes in altruistic motivations for vaccination and their implications for public health strategies. Using a representative sample of the adult population of South Tyrol, Italy, including 1388 participants, altruism was assessed in 2023 with the scales of the Elderly Care Research Center (ECRC) and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) subscale of the version 5F30F-R1. Its association with demographic variables, vaccination attitudes and personal beliefs in two age groups (18–69 years, 70+ years) was analyzed. The results reveal distinct predictors of altruism across these scales and age groups, suggesting a shift in altruistic attitudes towards vaccination when comparing data from a similar survey conducted in 2021 with the 2023 results. Consequently, the use of altruism scales for different age groups is warranted. This study highlights the need for further research in this field. It concludes that while promoting altruistic behavior to increase vaccine uptake appears to be effective primarily among the younger population, emphasizing personal safety is more appropriate for encouraging vaccination among older individuals.