Mhealth Acceptance And Usage Among South Asian Adults In The U.S.

Author

Padmavathy Ramaswamy, UTHealth School of NursingFollow

Date of Award

Fall 12-2019

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD)

Advisor(s)

Constance Johnson PhD

Second Advisor

Diane M. Santa Maria, DrPH

Third Advisor

Sahiti Myneni, PhD

Abstract

Background: Modifiable lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes (DM) in South Asians (SAs) (Volgman et al., 2018). Interventions using mobile health (mHealth) have demonstrated feasibility and potential efficacy for ethnic minorities (Bender et al., 2018), and have the potential to be of preventive and therapeutic value in reducing the burden of CVD and DM in SAs living in the US. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the usage and acceptance of mHealth among SAs.

Purpose: The objectives were to examine the overall usage of mHealth and examine factors associated with the acceptance, usage, non-usage, and discontinuation of mHealth technology among SA adults living in the US.

Methods: The study utilized a cross-sectional research design. A total of 134 South Asian adults were recruited to the study. Self-reported measures included demographics, health status, motivations for using mHealth, factors associated with technology acceptance and usage, reasons for non-usage and discontinuation of mHealth applications (apps) and smart and connected devices using the survey developed by Paré, Leaver, & Bourget (2018). Correlation analyses were conducted using Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation tests. Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis analyses were conducted to compare group differences among current users, past users, and non-users of mHealth technology.

Results: About 62.4% of the participants were current users of mobile health apps, and 43.1% were current users of smart and connected devices. Users were on an average between the ages 35-54 years, female, healthy, employed, university educated, with an annual family income of over $80,000. There was a statistically significant difference in age (χ² (2) = 9.638, p = .007) and employment (χ² (4, N = 105) = 12.262, p = 0.019) between the current users, past users, and non-users of smart devices. Non-users of smart devices were more likely to be students, and between 18-34 years of age. The mean scores for the scales of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, confirmation of expectations, user satisfaction, and intent to continue using mHealth technology ranged from 3.5 – 4.2 (somewhat agree to strongly agree) for mobile health apps and from 4.1 to 4.4 (somewhat agree to strongly agree) for smart and connected devices.

Conclusions: mHealth technology was used, accepted, and appreciated by more than half of the South Asian adults that we surveyed. The results from this study may help in selecting and utilizing the most accepted mHealth technology for designing interventions for South Asian adults living in the US to lower the risk of CVD and DM.

Recommended Citation

Ramaswamy, Padmavathy, "Mhealth Acceptance And Usage Among South Asian Adults In The U.S." (2019). Dissertations & Theses (Open Access). 40.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthson_etd/40

Keywords

South Asians, mHealth, technology acceptance