A Comprehensive Picture of Factors Affecting User Willingness to Use Mobile Health Applications

TL;DR

This study identifies key factors influencing user acceptance of mobile health apps, highlighting digital literacy and privacy concerns, with implications for design and policy to enhance adoption.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of demographic and behavioral factors affecting mHealth app acceptance using a large international sample.

Findings

Digital literacy strongly influences willingness to use mHealth apps.

Sharing personal information online impacts user acceptance.

Privacy concerns have a weak effect on user willingness.

Abstract

Mobile health (mHealth) applications have become increasingly valuable in preventive healthcare and in reducing the burden on healthcare organizations. The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence user acceptance of mHealth apps and identify the underlying structure that shapes users' behavioral intention. An online study that employed factorial survey design with vignettes was conducted, and a total of 1,669 participants from eight countries across four continents were included in the study. Structural equation modeling was employed to quantitatively assess how various factors collectively contribute to users' willingness to use mHealth apps. The results indicate that users' digital literacy has the strongest impact on their willingness to use them, followed by their online habit of sharing personal information. Users' concerns about personal privacy only had a weak impact. Furthermore, users' demographic background, such as their country of residence, age, ethnicity, and education, has a significant moderating effect. Our findings have implications for app designers, healthcare practitioners, and policymakers. Efforts are needed to regulate data collection and sharing and promote digital literacy among the general population to facilitate the widespread adoption of mHealth apps.