Understanding the evaluation of mHealth app features based on a cross-country Kano analysis

Abstract

While mobile health (mHealth) apps play an increasingly important role in digitalized health care, little is known regarding the effects of specific mHealth app features on user satisfaction across different healthcare system contexts. Using personal health record (PHR) apps as an example, this study identifies how potential users in Germany and Denmark evaluate a set of 26 app features, and whether evaluation differences can be explained by the differences in four pertinent user characteristics, namely privacy concerns, mHealth literacy, mHealth self-efficacy, and adult playfulness. Based on survey data from both countries, we employed the Kano method to evaluate PHR features and applied a quartile-based sample-split approach to understand the underlying relationships between user characteristics and their perceptions of features. Our results not only reveal significant differences in 14 of the features between Germans and Danes, they also demonstrate which of the user characteristics best explain each of these differences. Our two key contributions are, first, to explain the evaluation of specific PHR app features on user satisfaction in two different healthcare contexts and, second, to demonstrate how to extend the Kano method in terms of explaining subgroup differences through user characteristic antecedents. The implications for app providers and policymakers are discussed.

The Sociodemographic Digital Divide in Mobile Health App Use Among Clients at Outpatient Departments in Inner Mongolia, China: Cross-sectional Survey Study

“…Patient satisfaction has become an important indicator for measuring health care quality [ 22 , 23 ] and policy evaluations of health care systems, which directly connect with health services use [ 24 ]. mHealth app features affect user satisfaction in various health care scenarios [ 25 , 26 ]. mHealth is a specific area that can be used to examine the digital divide.…”

Examining Protection Motivation and Network Externality Perspective Regarding the Continued Intention to Use M-Health Apps

“…M-health apps have a unique feature, that is, they provide health-related services [ 15 ]. Thus, besides being an emergent technology, users’ use of m-health may also be a health behavior triggered by the intention to avoid health threats and maintain security [ 16 ].…”

Digital healthcare services

“…Their study contributes to self-leadership research on individual health information systems and has practical implications for wearable and healthcare providers. The article on "Understanding the evaluation of mHealth app features based on a cross-country Kano analysis" by Gimpel et al (2021) also deals with mobile health solutions but focuses on the effects of specific mHealth app features on user satisfaction across different healthcare system contexts. Their study uses personal health record (PHR) apps as an example and investigates how potential users in Germany and Denmark evaluate a set of 26 app features taking into account four user characteristics, namely privacy concerns, mHealth literacy, mHealth selfefficacy, and adult playfulness.…”