Active Usage of Mobile Health Applications: Cross-sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Consumer Behavior

Background:

• Mobile health applications are increasingly vital for health management, yet factors influencing their active use remain underexplored.
• Active usage is linked to mobile health service effectiveness, highlighting a need to understand user engagement drivers.
• Current research lacks a comprehensive study on the specific attributes that drive sustained user interaction with mobile health apps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors influencing active usage of mobile health applications.
• To examine how different attributes of mobile health apps affect user satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
• To determine the relationship between app attributes, user emotions, and sustained engagement with mobile health technology.

Main Methods:

• Grounded in the 3-factor theory, 10 mobile health app attributes were identified and categorized into excitement, performance, and basic attributes.
• A survey collected 494 valid responses from mobile health app users.
• Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the relationships between app attributes, user satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and active usage.

Main Results:

• Both consumer satisfaction (β=0.351) and dissatisfaction (β=-0.251) significantly influenced active mobile health app usage.
• Excitement (β=0.525) and performance (β=0.297) attributes positively impacted user satisfaction.
• Performance (β=-0.231) and basic (β=-0.412) attributes negatively influenced user dissatisfaction, confirming hypotheses.

Conclusions:

• This research offers a novel framework for understanding active mobile health app usage by categorizing app attributes.
• The study confirms that consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction are independent constructs influencing app engagement.
• Findings provide actionable insights for designing mobile health applications that foster greater user activity and effectiveness.