Examining Users' Adoption of Precision Medicine: The Moderating Role of Medical Technical Knowledge

Factors influencing the continuance intention of the women's health WeChat public account: an integrated model of UTAUT2 and HBM

Background

Women's health WeChat public accounts play a crucial role in enhancing health literacy and fostering the development of healthy behaviors among women by disseminating women's health knowledge. Improving users' continuous usage behavior and retention rates for the women's health WeChat public account is vital for influencing the overall effectiveness of health communication on WeChat.

Objective

This study aimed to construct a comprehensive model, delving into the key factors influencing women's continuance intention of the women's health public accounts from the perspectives of perceived health threats, individual abilities, and technological perceptions. The goal is to provide valuable insights for enhancing user stickiness and the effectiveness of health communication on WeChat public accounts.

Method

An online survey was conducted among women receiving gynecological care at a certain hospital to gage their willingness for sustained use of the women's health WeChat public accounts. Through structural equation modeling, the study investigated the influencing factors on women's sustained intention to use the women's health WeChat public accounts.

Results

The study included a total of 853 adult women. Among them, 241 (28.3%) women had followed women's health official accounts in the past but do not currently follow them, 240 (28.1%) women had followed women's health official accounts in the past and are still following them, and 372 (43.6%) women had never followed women's health official accounts. Currently, 240 women are still browsing women's health public accounts, 52 of whom read women's health public accounts every day, and most of them read women's health public accounts for 10-20 min at a time (100, 11.7%). The results of the structural equation model revealed that performance expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, habit, and e-health literacy had significantly positive effects on women's sustained intention to use public accounts (performance expectancy: β = 0.341, p < 0.001; social influence: β = 0.087, p = 0.047; hedonic motivation: β = 0.119, p = 0.048; habit: β = 0.102, p < 0.001; e-health literacy: β = 0.158, p < 0.001). E-health literacy and self-efficacy indirectly influence sustained intention by affecting performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, and habit. The effect sizes of e-health literacy on performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, and habit were 0.244 (p < 0.001), 0.316 (p < 0.001), 0.188 (p < 0.001), 0.226(p < 0.001), 0.154 (p < 0.001), and 0.073 (p = 0.046). The effect sizes of self-efficacy on performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, and habit were 0.502 (p < 0.001), 0.559 (p < 0.001), 0.454 (p < 0.001), 0.662 (p < 0.001), 0.707 (p < 0.001), and 0.682 (p < 0.001). Additionally, perceived severity and perceived susceptibility indirectly affected sustained intention by influencing performance expectancy and social influence. The effect sizes of perceived severity on performance expectancy and social influence were 0.223 (p < 0.001) and 0.146 (p < 0.001). The effect size of perceived susceptibility to social influence was 0.069 (p = 0.042).

Conclusion

Users' e-health literacy, self-efficacy, perception of disease threat, and users' technological perceptions of the WeChat public accounts are critical factors influencing women's continuance intention of using the WeChat public accounts. Therefore, for female users, attention should be given to improving user experience and enhancing the professionalism and credibility of health information in public account design and promotion. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to strengthen users' health awareness and cultivate e-health literacy, ultimately promoting sustained attention and usage behavior among women toward health-focused public accounts.

Empowering Healthcare through Precision Medicine: Unveiling the Nexus of Social Factors and Trust

This study investigated the impact of social factors on the acceptance of precision medicine (PM) using a quantitative survey grounded in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. The findings revealed that social influence has a significantly positive effect on PM acceptance, while the influence of social media is found to be insignificant. Performance expectancy emerged as the most influential factor, demonstrating a significant relationship with PM acceptance. Trust plays a crucial moderating role, mitigating the impact of social factors on PM acceptance. While exploring the mediating effects of trust, we identified a significant mediation effect for social influence and performance expectancy on PM acceptance. However, the mediation effect of social media influence is insignificant. These findings highlight the importance of trust in shaping decisions regarding PM acceptance. These findings have significant implications for healthcare practitioners and policymakers aiming to promote the adoption of precision medicine in clinical practice.

A Qualitative Analysis of Clinician Perspectives of Ultrasound Biofeedback for Speech Sound Disorders

PURPOSE

Ultrasound biofeedback therapy (UBT) is a relatively new type of technology-assisted speech-language therapy and has shown promise in remediating speech sound disorders. However, there is a current lack of understanding of the barriers and benefits that may influence the usage behavior and clinical decision making for the implementation of UBT from a clinician perspective. In this qualitative study, we explore the perspectives of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who have used ultrasound biofeedback in programs of speech sound therapy using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model.

METHOD

Seven SLPs who had clinical experience treating speech sound disorders with UBT participated. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted and video-recorded. Two coders coded and categorized the transcribed data, with consensus established with a third coder. Using thematic analysis, the data were exploratorily grouped into themes along components of the UTAUT model.

RESULTS

The highest number of codes was sorted into the "effort expectancy" theme, followed by "performance expectancy," "social influence," and "facilitating conditions" themes of the UTAUT model. Clinicians identified multiple perceived barriers and benefits to the use of ultrasound technology. The top identified barrier was limited accessibility, and the top benefit was the ability to visualize a client's articulatory response to cues on a display.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians prioritized "effort expectancy" and "performance expectancy" when reflecting on the use of ultrasound biofeedback for speech sound disorders. Clinicians spoke favorably about using UBT for speech sound disorder treatment but acknowledged institutional barriers and limitations at organizational and social levels.

Middle-aged and elderly users' continuous usage intention of health maintenance-oriented WeChat official accounts: empirical study based on a hybrid model in China

Background

Although middle-aged and elderly users are the main group targeted by health maintenance-oriented WeChat official accounts (HM-WOAs), few studies have explored the relationship of these accounts and their users. Exploring the factors that influence the continuous adoption of WOAs is helpful to strengthen the health education of middle-aged and elderly individuals.

Objective

We developed a new theoretical model and explored the factors that influence middle-aged and elderly individuals' continuous usage intention for HM-WOA. Performance expectancy mediated the effects of the model in explaining continuous usage intention and introduced health literacy into the model.

Methods

We established a hybrid theoretical model on the basis of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 model (UTAUT2), the health belief model (BHM), protection motivation theory (PMT), and health literacy. We collected valid responses from 396 middle-aged and elderly users aged ≥ 45 years in China. To verify our hypotheses, we analyzed the data using structural equation modeling.

Results

Performance expectancy (β = 0.383, P < 0.001), hedonic motivation (β = 0.502, P < 0.001), social influence (β = 0.134, P = 0.049), and threat appraisal (β = 0.136, P < 0.001) positively influenced middle-aged and elderly users' continuous usage intention. Perceived health threat (β =  − 0.065, P = 0.053) did not have a significant effect on continuous usage intention. Both threat appraisal (β = 0.579, P < 0.001) and health literacy (β = 0.579, P < 0.001) positively affected performance expectancy. Threat appraisal indirectly affected continuous usage intention through performance expectancy mediation.

Conclusions

Our new theoretical model is useful for understanding middle-aged and elderly users' continuous usage intention for HM-WOA. Performance expectancy plays a mediation role between threat appraisal and continuous usage intention, and health literacy positively affects performance expectancy.