Publication: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ACTUAL UTILIZATION OF WELLNESS RELATED MOBILE HEALTH (mHEALTH) APPLICATIONS BY IMU UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES IN MALAYSIA
Date
2025
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Publisher
IMU University
Abstract
The term "mHealth applications" refers to mobile applications or software programs that leverage wireless technologies on smartphones. The widespread availability of these mobile health (mHealth) applications presents significant opportunities for promoting employee wellness within confined workplaces. The objective of this study is to identify the factors influencing the actual use of wellness-related (mHealth) applications among employees at IMU University in Malaysia and to clarify how behavioral intentions impact their usage patterns. This research employs a quantitative cross-sectional design, utilizing a self-administered questionnaire completed online. The questionnaire links two theoretical frameworks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has perceived usefulness and ease of use constructs. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), with its constructs of performance and effort expectations, social influences, facilitating conditions, and behavioral intention. Together these models help predict how employees accept technology, particularly in understanding the actual utilization of mHealth applications. Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression analysis was applied to the collected data to evaluate the actual utilization of mHealth apps. A total of 148 responses were obtained, representing a 52% response rate. Factor analysis revealed a strong construct validity with factor loadings ranging from 0.552 to 0.940 across all constructs. The measurement instrument demonstrated high reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.96. The study demonstrated Ease of use with a mean score of 3.79 followed by Performance and Effort Expectations with a mean score of 3.73, Facilitating conditions and perceived usefulness had more impact, while Social Influence exhibited limited impact, with a mean score of 2.86. The high mean score (3.52) reflects a general willingness among staff to integrate mHealth wellness apps into their daily routines, if the applications meet their expectations. Behavioral Intention is found to be the most significant predictor showing a strong standardized coefficient (β = 0.580, p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study highlights that behavioral intention is the only predictor with significant relationship with the dependent variable i.e the usage frequency. Social influence as a variable had the least influence on the actual utilization of wellness mobile health applications among IMU university employees. Factors such as performance expectations, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and facilitating conditions play an important role in shaping user perceptions, they are not significant predictors of application use. The evaluation of factors influencing mHealth wellness apps among heavy, moderate, and minimal users is more valuable. The actual utilization data from mobile phones or smart watches will be more accurate than looking at self-perception.
Key words: mHealth apps, wellness related apps, healthcare university employee, technology acceptance, smart phones.
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Keywords
Telemedicine, Malaysia, Wireless Technology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Health Promotion, Cell Phone, Fitness Trackers