Acceptance of medical drone technology and its determinant factors among public and healthcare personnel in a Malaysian urban environment: knowledge, attitude, and perception

Muhammad Za'im Sahul Hameed; Rosdiadee Nordin; Aniza Ismail; Muhammad Aidiel Zulkifley; Aina Suraya Helmy Sham; Raja Zahratul Azma Raja Sabudin; Mohamed Afiq Hidayat Zailani; Ismail Mohd Saiboon; Zaleha Abdullah Mahdy

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1199234

Acceptance of medical drone technology and its determinant factors among public and healthcare personnel in a Malaysian urban environment: knowledge, attitude, and perception

Front Public Health. 2023 Nov 17:11:1199234. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1199234. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Muhammad Za'im Sahul Hameed¹, Rosdiadee Nordin², Aniza Ismail¹, Muhammad Aidiel Zulkifley², Aina Suraya Helmy Sham², Raja Zahratul Azma Raja Sabudin³, Mohamed Afiq Hidayat Zailani³, Ismail Mohd Saiboon⁴, Zaleha Abdullah Mahdy⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
² Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.
³ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Abstract

Introduction: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for commercial, medical, public safety, and scientific research purposes in various countries.

Methods: This study aimed to explore the acceptance of medical delivery drones among medical practitioners as well as the public community in Malaysia using a knowledge, attitude, and perception (KAP) model and statistical analysis to decrease uncertainty. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of the results were performed in SPSS.

Results: A total of 639 respondents took part in the survey, of which 557 complete responses were finally analyzed. The results showed that the overall acceptance rate for medical delivery drones was positive. The acceptance rate was significantly correlated with knowledge, attitude, and perception scores but not with sociodemographic factors.

Discussion: Raising awareness and educating the medical as well as public communities regarding the potential role and benefits of drones are therefore important in garnering support for drone usage for medical purposes.

Keywords: KAP model; drone acceptance; medical delivery drone; medical practitioners; public community.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Malaysia
Perception
Technology
Unmanned Aerial Devices*

Grants and funding

The study was funded by a grant from CREST (Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science, and Technology Centre) under grant T23C2-19.