Predictors of Mobile Health App Acceptance Among Nurses in Kashan, Iran: Cross-Sectional Study

The integration of mobile health apps (MHAs) into nursing practice is essential for improving efficiency, conserving resources, and enhancing patient care. To promote the acceptance of these apps in clinical care, it is important to assess current acceptance levels and identify influencing factors.

This study investigated the acceptance of MHAs and related factors among nurses in hospitals affiliated with Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 250 nurses were selected via stratified random sampling in Kashan in 2022. Data were collected using the Nurses' Mobile Health Device Acceptance Scale (NMHDA-S) and the Probable Predictors Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 16; IBM Corp), 1-way ANOVA, independent t test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression.

The findings showed that nurses had a mean acceptance score of 4.207 (SD 0.740) on a Likert scale from 1 to 7 (95% CI 4.115-4.299) regarding the use of MHAs. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that 4 variables significantly predicted acceptance of MHAs (R²=0.230, F4,245=18.308, P<.001): interest in participating in relevant educational programs (β=0.392, P<.001), encouragement from health care professionals to use MHAs (β=0.133, P=.02), male participant (β=-0.116, P=.04), and duration of daily internet use (β=0.117, P=.04).

Although MHA acceptance among clinical nurses in Kashan is moderate, adoption can be enhanced through targeted training, facilitated internet access, and gender-specific incentive policies, particularly for female staff.