Factors influencing attitude and behavioural intention to use mobile health applications among obese people / Khairul Nazlin Kamaruzaman

Obesity is a significant public health issue; linked to chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems. The human body cannot function efficiently with a high body mass index score. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2016), the measurement guidelines for obese people are equal toor over >25 kg/m2. One of the ways to control the situation is to rely on advanced technology such as mobile phone applications. There is a lack of research addressing obese peoples’ perceptions of using mobile applications for healthcare purposes. Obese peoples’ perception and intention to use mobile health applications are two critical factors. Therefore, in light of the Consumer Acceptance Technology (CAT) model by Kulviwat et al. (2007), this research investigates the factors that may influence behavioural intention, such as perceived cognition, perceived threat, compatibility and accessibility with the mediating effect of attitude. A survey method is used in this study to collect the primary data. The data size of this research is a group of 386 obese people from the top five states with the highest obesity rates in Malaysia; Malacca, Federal Territory of Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Perlis. The responses are analysed using Partial Least Square (PLS) software to fulfil the research objectives and answer the research questions established for this study. The results show that perceived cognition (PC) and perceived affection (PA) partially supported behavior al intention to use (BITU), while in contrast, perceived threat (PT), compatibility (COMP), and accessibility (ACC) fully endorsed the relationship towards BITU. Besides, perceived cognition and perceived affection (PC and PA) partially supported the relationship with attitude (ATT). On the other hand, PT, COMP and ACC fully supported the relationship with ATT. Finally, the results demonstrate that ATT partially mediate the relationship between PC and PA, while ATT fully mediate the effect of PT, COMP, ACC on BITU. The findings provided empirical evidence on the collective effect of behavior al intention to use mobile health applications and the independent effect of perceived cognition, perceived affect, perceived threat, compatibility and accessibility. Furthermore, findings suggest to encourage individuals to use mobile health applications to monitor their health. Also, related stakeholders should continually improve user perception of healthcare applications.