Intention to use Medical Apps Among Older Adults in the Netherlands: Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: The increasing health service demand driven by the aging of the global population calls for the development of modes of health service delivery that are less human resource–intensive. Electronic health (eHealth) and medical apps are expected to play an important role in this development. Although evidence shows mobile medical apps might be effective in improving the care, self-management, self-efficacy, health-related behavior, and medication adherence of older adults, little is known about older adults’ intention to use these technologies when needed, or the factors influencing this intention. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship of technology acceptance factors and intention to use mobile medical apps among community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: Data was collected using questionnaires. The factors selected from the literature have been validated using Cronbach α and tested for significance using logistic regressions. RESULTS: Almost half (49.7%) of the included older adults reported no intention to use medical apps. Adjusted logistic regression analysis per factor showed that the factors Attitude toward use (odds ratio [OR] 8.50), Perceived usefulness (OR 5.25), Perceived ease of use (OR 4.22), Service availability (OR 3.46), Sense of control (OR 3.40), Self-perceived effectiveness (OR 2.69), Facilities (OR 2.45), Personal innovativeness (OR 2.08), Social relationships (OR 1.79), Subjective norm (OR 1.48), and Feelings of anxiety (OR 0.62) significantly influenced the intention to use mobile medical apps among older adults, whereas the factor Finance (OR 0.98) did not. When considered together, a controlled multivariate logistic regression yielded high explained variances of 0.542 (Cox-Snell R(2)) and 0.728 (Nagelkerke R(2)). CONCLUSIONS: The high odds ratios and explained variance indicate that the factors associated with the intention to use medical apps are largely understood and the most important factors have been identified. To advance the evidence base, experimental controlled research should investigate the causality between the factors, intention to use, and actual use. For this purpose, our evidence suggests that policies designed to improve Attitude toward use appear most effective, followed by policies addressing Perceived usefulness, Perceived ease of use, Service availability, and Sense of control.