Does Being Ill Improve Acceptance of Medical Technology?—A Patient Survey with the Technology Usage Inventory

Sabur Safi, Gerhard Danzer, Solaiman Raha, Eyyad Nassar, Frank T. Hufert and Kurt J. G. Schmailzl
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Sabur Safi: Fakultät Humanwissenschaften, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany
Gerhard Danzer: Fachbereich für Innere Medizin und Psychosomatische Medizin, Allgemeine Psychologie, Medical School Brandenburg, Fehrbelliner Str. 38, 16816 Neuruppin, Germany
Solaiman Raha: Fachbereich für Digitale Medizin und Künstliche Intelligenz, Center for Connected Health Care UG, Gartenstrasse 20, 16818 Wustrau, Germany
Eyyad Nassar: Fachbereich für Digitale Medizin und Künstliche Intelligenz, Center for Connected Health Care UG, Gartenstrasse 20, 16818 Wustrau, Germany
Frank T. Hufert: Fachbereich für Mikrobiologie und Virologie, Medical School Brandenburg, Fehrbelliner Str. 38, 16816 Neuruppin, Germany
Kurt J. G. Schmailzl: Fachbereich für Digitale Medizin und Künstliche Intelligenz, Center for Connected Health Care UG, Gartenstrasse 20, 16818 Wustrau, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: Acceptance of new medical technology may be influenced by social conditions and an individual’s background and particular situation. We studied this acceptance by hypothesizing that current and former COVID-19 patients would be more likely to accept an electrocardiogram (ECG) “patch” (attached to the chest) that allows continuous monitoring of the heart than individuals who did not have the disease and thus the respective experience. Currently infected COVID-19 patients, individuals who had recovered from COVID-19, and a control group were recruited online through Facebook (and Instagram) and through general practitioners (GPs). Demographic information and questions tailored to the problem were collected via an online questionnaire. An online survey was chosen in part because of the pandemic conditions, and Facebook was chosen because of the widespread discussions of health topics on that platform. The results confirmed the central hypothesis that people who had experienced a disease are more willing to accept new medical technologies and showed that curiosity about new technologies and willingness to use them were significantly higher in the two groups currently or previously affected by COVID-19, whereas fears of being “monitored” (in the sense of surveillance) were significantly higher among people who had not experienced the disease and threat. Experiencing a serious disease (“patient experience”) promotes acceptance of new medical technologies.

Keywords: COVID-19; technology acceptance; user survey; wearable health monitor; ECG patch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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