JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The use of drones in the healthcare sector is increasingly being discussed against the background of the ageing population and the growing shortage of skilled work-ers. In particular, the use of drones to provide medication in rural areas could bring advantages for the care of people with and without a need for care. However, there is hardly any data available that focuses on the interaction between humans and drones.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to disclose and analyze factors associated with user ac-ceptance of drone-based medication delivery in order to derive practice-relevant guidance points for participatory technology development (app and drone).

Methods:

A controlled mixed-methods study was conducted that supports the technical de-velopment process of an app design for drone-assisted drug delivery based on a participatory research design. For the quantitative analysis, established and stand-ardized survey instruments to capture technology acceptance, such as SUS, TUI and METUX, were used. To avoid possible biasing effects from a continuous user devel-opment (e.g. responses shift, learning effects), an adhoc group was formed at each of the three iterative development steps and was subsequently compared with the consisting core group, which goes through all three iterations.

Results:

The study found a positive correlation between the usability of a pharmacy-drone-app and participants' willingness to use it (r = .833). Participants' perception of use-fulness positively influenced their willingness to use the app (r = .487; TUI). Skepti-cism had a negative impact on the perceived usability and willingness to use it (r = -.542; SUS and -.446; TUI). The study found that usefulness, skepticism, and curiosity explain most of the intention to use the app (F(3,17) = 21.12, p < .001, R2 = .788, ad-justed R2 = .751). The core group showed higher ratings on the intention to use the pharmacy-drone-app than the adhoc groups. T-tests showed a higher rating on usa-bility for the third iteration of the core group compared to the first iteration.

Conclusions:

With the help of the participatory design, important aspects of acceptance could be revealed by the people involved in relation to drone-assisted drug delivery. For ex-ample, the length of time spent using the technology is an important factor for the intention to use the app. Technology-specific factors such as user-friendliness or curiosity are directly related to the usage acceptance of the drone app. Results of the present study showed that the more participants perceived competence in handling the app, the more they are willing to use the technology and the more they rated the app as usable.