A Structural Equation Modelling of Governing Factors Influencing Patient Acceptance of Mobile Health in Saudi Arabia

Tamim Alkhalifah

doi:10.4018/ijesma.295963

Abstract

There are obstacles that are delaying the implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in Saudi Arabia. For instance, mobile health cannot be effectively implemented if patients’ behavioural intentions are not taken into account, as patients’ attitudes and persistence are important for the successful introduction of any IT application. Indeed, the topic of mobile health acceptance, in the particular case of Saudi Arabia, has not been adequately investigated, despite the availability of some general research on the acceptance of technology. Therefore, the present study adopted the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model with the aim of identifying the determinants of mobile health application acceptance. The UTAUT model identified a selection of factors that influenced the uptake of mobile health services. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, system quality and trust in the ICT system were all positively influential. However, social factors did not appear to affect the behavioural intention to use mobile health.

Highlights

Fast-paced mobile technology innovations have led to the emergence of several mobile technologies, such as mobile learning (Sattarov & Khaitova, 2020), mobile payment (Petry & Moormann, 2020), mobile health (Byrd IV, Kim, Yeh, Lee, & O’Leary, 2021)
The usefulness of this model for examination of technology acceptance within the healthcare sector was first proposed by Hennington and Janz (2007), while the more recent work by Senft et al (2019) argued that insight into e-health adoption by cancer patients of African American and Caucasian descent could be attained through the UTAUT model
The results further suggested that a higher usefulness perception concerning mobile health (mHealth) among individuals results in higher behavioural intention for adopting mHealth

Summary

Introduction

Fast-paced mobile technology innovations have led to the emergence of several mobile technologies, such as mobile learning (Sattarov & Khaitova, 2020), mobile payment (Petry & Moormann, 2020), mobile health (Byrd IV, Kim, Yeh, Lee, & O’Leary, 2021). MHealth differs from conventional electronic health (e-health) technologies in that it is not dependent on computers and wired Internet connections Health Information and Communications Technology research has embraced the UTAUT model because it is widely applicable to investigations of technology acceptance. The usefulness of this model for examination of technology acceptance within the healthcare sector was first proposed by Hennington and Janz (2007), while the more recent work by Senft et al (2019) argued that insight into e-health adoption by cancer patients of African American and Caucasian descent could be attained through the UTAUT model. The UTAUT model has been applied in empirical research related to the adoption of electronic medical record systems (Mukred, Yusof, Alotaibi, Asma’Mokhtar, & Fauzi, 2019)

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Discussion

Conclusion