Patients' mHealth Apps Usage and Data Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Concerns: Exploratory Study

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Technology Adoption
• Patient Self-Care Management

Background:

• The Technology Adoption Model (TAM) is a framework for understanding mobile health (mHealth) app adoption, particularly concerning data privacy and security.
• Limited research exists on mHealth app adoption factors in Saudi Arabia, despite government initiatives to promote their use for patient self-care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of data privacy and security concerns on perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and behavioral intention to use mHealth apps.
• To apply the TAM and psychosociocultural framework to mHealth app adoption for self-care management in the Saudi Arabian context.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study surveyed 567 patients using mHealth apps for self-care across Saudi Arabia.
• Validated research instruments based on TAM and the psychosociocultural framework were administered via Google Forms.
• Linear regression models were used to analyze the relationships between variables.

Main Results:

• Over one-third of participants (38.2%) expressed high concerns about data privacy, confidentiality, and security, particularly females, highly educated individuals, and younger age groups (<46 years).
• Data privacy, confidentiality, and security concerns explained 18%-25% of the variance in PU, PEOU, and behavioral intention to use mHealth apps.
• Reduced concerns about data privacy, confidentiality, and security were significantly associated with higher PU, PEOU, and behavioral intention to use mHealth apps.

Conclusions:

• Demographic factors (age, education, gender) and data security/privacy concerns significantly influence mHealth app adoption for self-care.
• Healthcare providers and policymakers should consider these demographic variations when developing strategies to enhance mHealth app adoption among Saudi patients.