Social Acceptance of Mobile Health among Young Adults in Japan: An Extension of the UTAUT Model

Jianfei Cao; Karin Kurata; Yeongjoo Lim; Shintaro Sengoku; Kota Kodama

doi:10.3390/ijerph192215156

Social Acceptance of Mobile Health among Young Adults in Japan: An Extension of the UTAUT Model

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Nov 17;19(22):15156. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192215156.

Authors

Jianfei Cao¹, Karin Kurata², Yeongjoo Lim², Shintaro Sengoku³, Kota Kodama^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Technology Management, Ritsumeikan University, Ibaraki 567-8570, Japan.
² Graduate School of Corporate Business, Ritsumeikan University, Ibaraki 567-8570, Japan.
³ School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
⁴ Center for Research and Education on Drug Discovery, The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.

Abstract

The unprecedented development of information and communication technologies has opened up immense possibilities in the field of health care. Mobile health (mHealth) is gaining increasing attention as an important technology for solving health-related problems. Although a high rate of smartphone usage among young people in Japan has been identified, smartphone usage for health management is not high. As Japanese youth are important potential users of mHealth, it is necessary to explore theories that influence the behavioral intention of Japanese youth to adopt mHealth. This study conducted a questionnaire survey in a Japanese university and collected 233 valuable responses. This study was adapted and extended from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to measure eight constructs: health consciousness, social influence, facilitation conditions, perceived risk, trust, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and behavioral intention. Structural equation modeling was used for hypothesis testing. We found that trust, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy directly influenced the behavioral intention to use mHealth. Health consciousness and social influence indirectly influence behavioral intention through trust and performance expectancy. Facilitation conditions indirectly influenced behavioral intention through effort expectancy. This study makes a vital theoretical contribution to policymakers and product developers for the further diffusion of mHealth among young people in Japan.

Keywords: Japanese young adults; UTAUT model; health consciousness; mHealth; mobile health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Humans
Japan
Social Status*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Technology
Telemedicine*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the generous support and assistance of the Foundation France-Japon de École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Air Liquide. This work was also Funded by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (grant numbers 21H00739, 20H01546, and 20K20769), JST SPRING (grant number JPMJSP2101), and the AY2022 International Collaborative Research Promotion Program of Ritsumeikan University. The funding sources did not participate in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, or the decision to submit this article for publication.