mHealth Acceptance and Usage Among South Asian Adults in US

Purpose: Mobile health (mHealth) technologies including smartphone applications and wearable and connected devices have shown to be viable health behavior change intervention modalities among youth (Fedele et al., 2017), adults (Wang, Xue, Huang, Huang & Zhang, 2017), and in the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease (Lee, Choi, Lee & Jiang, 2018). South Asians (SAs) (people from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) are disproportionately more affected by cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and Diabetes Mellitus (DM), compared to other groups such as Caucasians (Talegawkar, Jin, Kandula, & Kanaya, 2017). Modifiable lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet contribute to this increased risk (Volgman et al., 2018). Interventions using mHealth have demonstrated feasibility and potential efficacy for ethnic minorities such as Filipino Americans (Bender, Cooper, Flowers, Ma, & Arai, 2018). Mhealth technologies have the potential to be of both preventive and therapeutic value in reducing the burden of CVD and DM in SAs living in the US. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the usage and acceptance of mHealth among South Asians.

The objectives of this study are to 1) examine the overall usage of mHealth and wearable technology among SA adults living in the US and 2) examine factors associated with the acceptance, usage, non-usage, and discontinuation of mHealth technology in this population. To accomplish the objectives of this project, the following specific aims will be pursued: 1) to describe types and extent of mHealth technology ownership and usage; 2) to describe factors on the usage and non-usage of mHealth technology including motivation for use, demographics and perceived health status; 3) to determine factors associated with the acceptance or and intention to use mHealth technology; and 4) to describe the reasons for discontinuation of mHealth technology.

Methods: This will be a cross-sectional study of SA adults above the age of 18 years old living in the US. A total of 90 participants will be recruited from religious, social, and community organizations in Houston central and suburban areas and from across US via e-mail and social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp) using convenience and snowball sampling. Data will be collected regarding the following: demographics, health status, motivations for using mHealth, factors associated with technology acceptance and usage, reasons for non-usage and discontinuation of mHealth using the survey developed by Paré, Leaver, & Bourget (2018).

Results: As a consequence of the study proposed, we expect to identify the usage and the factors influencing usage of smartphone health apps and wearable devices in a sample of South Asian adults living in the US.

Conclusion: The results obtained from this study are expected to have a positive impact by helping in designing mHealth interventions in South Asian adults living in the United States. Our long-term goal is to decrease the risk of CVD and DM among SAs living in the US by increasing physical activity and improving intake of healthy diet.