Preferences in the Willingness to Download an mHealth App: Discrete Choice Experimental Study in Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Despite the worldwide growth in mHealth tools and the possible benefits for both patients and healthcare providers, adoption of mHealth is low and only a limited number of studies have examined the intention to download mHealth apps. OBJECTIVE In the current study, we investigated individuals’ preferences in the adoption of a health app. METHODS We conducted a discrete choice experimental study in three countries (Spain [N=800], Germany [N=800], and the Netherlands [N=416]) with four different vignettes (i.e., revenue models, data protection models, recommendation models, manufacturer models) with different attributes. Participants were randomly assigned. RESULTS The results showed that price and data protection were considered important factors that significantly increased the probability to download a mobile health app. In general, the recommendation and the manufacturer affected the probability to download the health app less. However, in Germany and the Netherlands we found that if the app was manufactured by a pharmaceutical company, the probability to download the health app decreased. CONCLUSIONS mHealth tools are highly promising to reduce healthcare costs and increase the effectiveness of traditional health interventions and therapies. Improving data protection, reducing costs, and creating sound business models are the major driving forces to increase the adoption of mobile health apps in the future. It is thereby essential to create trustworthy standards for mobile applications, whereby prices, legislation concerning data protection, and health professionals can have a leading role to inform the potential consumers.