An extension of technology acceptance model for mHealth user adoption

Abstract

Providing health care services has become a challenge for the government, especially for emerging economies, which face huge resource problems. mHealth (mobile health) has the potential to reduce health-related problems significantly in the long run. It can be used as a preventive healthcare tool also. Despite the potential, minimal studies exist on the technology adoption of mHealth. There have been inadequate studies in the context of India. To find out the domains where studies can be conducted and after a thorough literature review, the study employed the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) for the smooth running of mobile health services.As a theoretical contribution, this research is an extended version of the TAM, suggested by Davis, through considering six additional variables such as social influence, technology anxiety, trust, perceived risk, perceived physical condition, Resistance to change. To validate the linkages, a close-ended questionnaire was developed after a thorough literature survey. The current study collected 289 valid responses from different mHealth services users. The constructs of the model have been tested in Indian settings by conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Further, Structural equation modelling is ably employed to validate the model to suit the Indian requirements. The adoption of mHealth was found to have had an enormous impact on social influence, behavioural intention and trust. The empirical examination showed high predictive power for adoption intention of mHealth services and the influential role of these important constructs. The implications for academics and policymakers have been discussed in this study. Finally, the future scope and limitations of the study have been discussed.