Public perception of health technologies: an exploratory spatial mapping of risks, benefits, and value attributions

TL;DR

This study explores how people in Germany and Bulgaria perceive various health technologies, finding that perceived benefits strongly influence their overall value assessment.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel spatial mapping approach to analyze public perception across 20 diverse health technologies.

Findings

Perceived benefit is the strongest predictor of overall value (β = +0.886).

Perceived risk has a smaller negative impact (β = −0.133) but still contributes to value assessment.

Individual factors like prior care experience and trust in physicians significantly shape perceptions.

Abstract

The social acceptance of health technologies is crucial for the effectiveness and sustainability of healthcare systems amid the demographic change. However, patients’ acceptance, which shapes technology use and compliance, is still insufficiently understood.

In this study, we explore how perceived risks and perceived benefits relate to attributed value as a proxy for social acceptance. Unlike most studies that focus on individual technologies, we measure public perception of 20 very different types of health technologies—ranging from plaster cast and x-Ray to insulin pumps, bionic limbs, and mRNA vaccines. Through an online survey utilizing a convenience sample of 193 participants from Germany and Bulgaria, we assessed perceived risks, benefits, and overall value attributed to these technologies. The study presents a visual mapping of the technologies and investigates the individual and technology-related factors shaping these perceptions.

The findings suggest that perceived benefit is the strongest predictor for overall value (β = +0.886), while perceived risk plays a significant, but much smaller role (β = −0.133). Together, both factors explain 95% of the variance in overall attributed value (95%, R2 = .959). Further, individual differences, such as prior care experience and trust in physicians, significantly influences the perceptions of health technologies.

We conclude with recommendations for effectively communicating the benefits and risks of health technologies to the public, mitigating biases, and enhancing social acceptance and integration into healthcare systems.

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