Investigating factors influencing the adoption of e-Health in developing countries: A patient’s perspective

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate factors that influence the adoption and use of e-Health applications in Bangladesh from citizens’ (patients’) perspectives by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) to include privacy and trust. Methods: A structured questionnaire survey was used to collect data from more than 350 participants in various private and public hospitals in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The data were analyzed using the partial least-squares (PLS) method, a statistical analysis technique based on structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The study determined that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and trust (p < 0.05) were significant factors influencing the intention to adopt e-Health. Privacy (p > 0.05) was identified as a less significant factor in the context of e-Health in Bangladesh. The findings also revealed that gender was strongly associated with the adoption and use of e-Health services. Conclusions: The findings of the present study contribute to the development of strategies and policies to enhance e-Health services in Bangladesh. Furthermore, as a result of the generic approach used in this study, the acceptance model developed can be easily modified to investigate the adoption of e-Health in other developing countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Bangladesh
• e-health
• privacy
• technology acceptance model (TAM)

Funding

This research was supported by the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Science (Project No. 13YJA630002) and a grant from the Modern Information Management Research Center at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Project No. 2014AA043).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Science (Project No. 13YJA630002) and a grant from the Modern Information Management Research Center at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Project No. 2014AA043).

Notes on contributors

M. Rakibul Hoque

Md. Rakibul Hoque contributed to the conceptualization and design of the study, the collection and analysis of the required information, and the drafting of the original and final versions of the manuscript.

Yukun Bao

Yukun Bao led the study in the development of the research model and troubleshooting the issues arising from the data analysis and draft writing/revision.

Golam Sorwar

Golam Sorwar assisted in the collection and analysis of the required information and the drafting of the initial and final versions of the manuscript.