Suitability of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 Model for Predicting mHealth Acceptance Using Diabetes as an Example: Qualitative Methods Triangulation Study

Abstract

Background: In recent years, the use of mobile health (mHealth) apps to manage chronic diseases has increased significantly. Although mHealth apps have many benefits, their acceptance is still low in certain areas and groups. Most mHealth acceptance studies are based on technology acceptance models. In particular, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model was developed to predict technology acceptance in a consumer context. However, to date, only a few studies have used the UTAUT2 model to predict mHealth acceptance and confirm its suitability for the health sector. Thus, it is unclear whether the UTAUT2 model is suitable for predicting mHealth acceptance and whether essential variables for a health-related context are missing.

Objective: This study aims to validate the suitability of UTAUT2 for predicting mHealth acceptance.

Methods: In this study, diabetes was used as an example as mHealth apps are a significant element of diabetes self-management. In addition, diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting young and older people worldwide. An explorative literature review and guided interviews with 11 mHealth or technology acceptance experts and 8 mHealth users in Austria and Germany were triangulated to identify all relevant constructs for predicting mHealth acceptance. The interview participants were recruited by purposive sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. Data were analyzed using structured content analysis based on inductive and deductive approaches.

Results: This study was able to confirm the relevance of all exogenous UTAUT2 constructs. However, it revealed two additional constructs that may also need to be considered to better predict mHealth acceptance: trust and perceived disease threat.

Conclusions: This study showed that the UTAUT2 model is suitable for predicting mHealth acceptance. However, the model should be extended to include 2 additional constructs for use in the mHealth context.

Keywords: UTAUT2; diabetes mellitus; mHealth; mobile apps; mobile health; mobile phone; technology acceptance.

Figure 1

The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 model, adapted from a study by Venkatesh et al [26].

Figure 2

Research design. mHealth: mobile health.

Figure 3

Explorative literature review—the screening process.

Figure 4

Summary of combined categories (colored boxes) identified from explorative literature review and guided interviews (gray boxes). The figures between gray and colored boxes indicate the number of coded segments assigned to each category. Categories are arranged in decreasing order according to the sum of coded segments from both sources. mHealth: mobile health.