Preferences for assistive healthcare technology by older Chinese adults: A discrete choice experiment

Population aging and the weakening of traditional care systems pose growing challenges to China's eldercare system, creating increasing demand for technology-assisted healthcare solutions. This study aimed to examine the preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) of old aged Chinese adults for assistive healthcare technologies.

A discrete choice experiment with six attributes (service location, service function, technology difficulty, technology security, out-of-pocket payments and quality of life) was conducted with 235 older adults. The conditional logit and mixed logit models were used to assess the utility, relative importance score, and WTP for attributes and preference heterogeneity.

All six attributes had a significant impact on older people's preferences. Participants preferred assistive technologies that could be used at home, focused on daily living assistance, featured low technology difficulty, ensured high security, improved quality of life, and incurred lower out-of-pocket payments, with the maximum WTP of $129.747 per month. Notable preference heterogeneity was observed, with females placing greater value on security, rural residents showing stronger preferences for home-based care, and individuals with chronic diseases prioritizing quality-of-life improvements.

Chinese older adults prioritized assistive technology with high technology security, better quality of life, home-based, low technology difficulty, lower out-of-pocket costs and offering daily living assistance services. We recommend policymakers build secure assistive technology systems; develop and promote low-difficulty and user-friendly technology solutions; implement differentiated pricing strategies to enhance the affordability and accessibility of assistive technology.