Investigating the Adoption of Mobile Health Services by Elderly Users: Trust Transfer Model and Survey Study

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough elderly users comprise a major user group in the field of mobile health (mHealth) services, their adoption rate of such services is relatively low compared with their use of traditional health services. Increasing the adoption rate of mHealth services among elderly users is beneficial to the aging process.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the determinants of mHealth service use intentions using a trust transfer model among elderly users facing declining physiological conditions and lacking support from hospitals.MethodsA survey comprising 395 users aged 60 years and above was conducted in China to validate our research model and hypotheses.ResultsThe results reveal that (1) trust in mHealth services positively influences use intentions, (2) trust in offline health services positively influences trust in mHealth services, (3) declining physiological conditions strengthen the effects of trust in offline health services regarding trust in mHealth services, (4) support from hospitals weakens the effects of trust in mHealth services on use intentions, and (5) the relationship between trust in offline health services and intention to use mHealth services is partially mediated by trust in mHealth services. The independent variables and moderators collectively explain a 48.3% variance in the use intention of mHealth services.ConclusionsWe conclude that the trust transfer theory is useful in explaining the development of initial trust in mHealth services. In addition, declining physiological conditions and support from hospitals are important factors for investigating the adoption of mHealth services among elderly users.

Effectiveness of Mobile Phone-Based Interventions for Improving Health Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Furthermore, mHealth service providers need to understand the different behaviors among different user groups of mHealth services. Particularly, healthcare professionals should understand that elderly patients are likely to have limited health literacy and experience with mHealth services [48].…”

Exploring the Determinants of Mobile Health Adoption by Hospitals in China: Empirical Study

“…Mobile health (mHealth) not only has the potential to alleviate pressure on hospital services but can also increase accessibility and meet individual patient demands. It has been advocated as a complementary approach to traditional (ie, offline) health care services [ 3 ]. With over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers [ 4 ], mHealth services in China are considered the largest market in the world, accounting for 12.53 billion yuan or US $1.76 billion (1 yuan = US $0.14), in 2017 [ 5 ].…”

“…Chinese hospitals have begun to take up mHealth to deliver health care services [ 3 , 9 , 12 , 13 ]. Most emerging literature focuses on patients’ adoption of mHealth services.…”

M-health Services Equipped with Public-Sector Community Health Centers in China: Investigating Adoption using UTAUT and Channel Expansion Theory

“…The adoption of e-health and m-health services have been investigated using various theoretical approached including stimulus-organism-response theory [14], protection motivation theory [15], the theory of planned behavior, and value attitude behavioral model [16], trust transfer model [17], technology acceptance model [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], and the uni ed theory of acceptance and use of technology theory [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. The uni ed theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) argues that the effort and performance expectancies with social in uences and facilitating conditions having a direct effect on the behavioral intention to use new technology.…”