ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing smart technology for lifelong proactive health managementView all articles
The adoption of assistive smart home technology and health-related quality of life among older adults: The moderating role of depressive symptom
Provisionally accepted
- Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
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Abstract: This study explores the relationship between assistive smart home technology use and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults in China. Using data from the 2021Psychology and Behavior Investigation of Chinese Residents (PBICR), 1147 older adults (aged ≥ 60 years) reported their assistive smart home technology use and HRQoL after excluding samples with missing core values. Results indicate a significant positive association between assistive smart home technology use and HRQoL. Depressive symptoms moderate this relationship, with stronger positive effects observed in individuals with higher levels of depressive symptoms. The study highlights the potential of smart home technology to support aging in place, especially for older adults in rural areas. Our findings emphasize the need for community-based training programs, age-friendly device adaptations, and collaborations with healthcare institutions to maximize the benefits of smart home technologies for the well-being of older adults.
Keywords: Assistive smart home technology, older adults, Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depressive symptoms, Aging in place
Received: 20 Oct 2025; Accepted: 30 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qiao, Wang, Liu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weichao Chen
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