Adoption of Health Mobile Apps during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Health Belief Model Approach

Nouf Sahal Alharbi, Amany Shlyan AlGhanmi and Mochammad Fahlevi ()
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Nouf Sahal Alharbi: Department of Health Administration, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Amany Shlyan AlGhanmi: Department of Health Informatics, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Jeddah 93499, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the adoption of the Sehha, Mawid, and Tetamman mobile health applications during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. The present study investigated factors influencing app use intention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) approach. This study was conducted using a sample of 176 participants from the Riyadh and Makkah regions during the lockdown in May 2020. This study uses structural equation modeling for data collected using SmartPLS 3.3.9 (GmbH, Oststeinbek, Germany) to examine the effect of constructs on the model. The most important predictor was the perceived benefits of the mobile health apps, followed by self-efficacy. The perceived barriers and cues to action have no significant effect on behavioral intention. The perceived benefits and self-efficacy as keys can provide an overview to the government and to health organizations for taking into account the most important factors of the adoption of mobile health apps, meaning that the developer must adjust to the characteristics of the community of people that need applications that provide many benefits and have an impact.

Keywords: adoption; MHealth app; mobile applications; COVID-19; coronavirus; Saudi Arabia; Health Belief Model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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