Objective  To examine the prevalence of Internet use and its impact on depression symptoms among community elderly in China and to provide evidence for improving mental health of the elderly.

  Methods  The data on 6 302 community elderly ( ≥ 60 years old) were extracted from one round of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2018 across China. The depression symptoms of the elderly were assessed with Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in the study.

  Results  Of all the elderly, 789 (12.52%) reported Internet use and 537 (8.52%) were identified as having depression symptoms. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the elderly being Internet users were less likely to have depression symptoms (odds ratio = 0.444, 95% confidence interval: 0.268 – 0.735) compared to the elderly not surfing the Internet after adjusting for gender, age, education level, marital status, type of household registration, medical insurance, pension insurance, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical exercise, chronic disease status, self-care capability, frequency of contacting with children, relationship with children, and self-rated health.

  Conclusion   Among community elderly in China, the prevalence rate of Internet use was low and the elderly Internet users could be at a reduced risk of having symptoms of depression.