JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The increasing health service demand driven by the aging of the global population calls for the development of modes of health service delivery which are less human resource intensive. eHealth in general, and medical apps in particular, are expected to play an important role in this development. While evidence shows mobile medical applications might be effective in improving elderly care, self-management, self-efficacy, health-related behavior and medication adherence, little is known about the elderly’s intention to use these technologies when needed, or the factors influencing this intention.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship of technology acceptance factors and intention to use mobile medical applications among community dwelling elderly.

Methods:

Data have been collected using questionnaires. The factors selected from literature have been validated using Cronbach Alpha and tested for significance using logistic regressions.

Results:

Almost half (49.7%) of the included elderly reported no intention to use medical apps. Controlled logistic regression analysis per factor showed that the factors Attitude Towards Use (OR 9.19), Perceived Usefulness (OR 5.94), Perceived Ease of Use (OR 4.43), Service Availability (OR 3.71), Sense of Control (OR 3.59), Self-Perceived Effectiveness (OR 2.84), Facilities (OR 2.70), Personal Innovativeness (OR 2.38), Social Relationships (OR 1.76), Subjective Norm (OR 1.47) and Feelings of Anxiety (OR 0.56) significantly influence the intention to use mobile medical applications in the elderly, whereas the factor Finance did not. When considered together, a controlled multivariate logistic regression yielded high explained variances of 0.542 (Cox & Snell R2) and 0.728 (Nagelkerke R2).

Conclusions:

The high odds ratios and explained variance indicate that the factors associated with intention to use med-apps are largely understood and the most important factors are identified. Experimental controlled further research to advance evidence of causality of the relationship between the factors, intention to use, and ultimately actual use, forms an important next step to advance the evidence base. For this purpose – and for the meantime - our evidence suggests policies designed at improving Attitude Towards Use appear most effective, followed by policies addressing Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Service Availability and Sense of Control.