An Integrated Model for Evaluating the Sustainability of Gamified Mobile Health Apps: An Instrument Development and...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Behavioral Science
• Information Systems

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) apps show efficacy in promoting physical activity.
• Sustaining user engagement in mHealth interventions remains a challenge.
• Understanding determinants of continued mHealth use is crucial for intervention success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a unified model and survey instrument to predict sustained use of gamified mHealth.
• To integrate social comparison theory and self-determination theory for user engagement.
• To investigate extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in gamified mHealth contexts.

Main Methods:

• Developed a unified model and survey instrument for predicting sustained use of gamified mHealth.
• Conducted a pilot study with 48 gamified fitness app users in Malaysia.
• Validated the survey instrument using rigorous quantitative research guidelines.

Main Results:

• The developed survey instrument demonstrated acceptable reliability for most measurement items.
• Items meeting reliability criteria were retained for further use.
• The pilot study provided initial validation for the proposed model.

Conclusions:

• The study integrates social comparison and self-determination theories to explain sustained engagement.
• Findings offer insights into leveraging extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for gamified mHealth.
• The validated instrument can be used to assess and improve user retention in health apps.