Perception of the Use of Mobile Applications for Health Monitoring Among Filipinos in Manila City

Abstract

The development of the technological domain in the Philippines, paired with the surge of mobile applications that aid in health monitoring, has catalyzed the popularization of mHealth applications. The successful implementation in the country, however, can be impeded by attitudinal barriers and the lack of input from the appropriate target population during the phase of the application’s development. This study seeks to determine the perception of Filipinos residing in Manila City towards mHealth applications. This was conducted to tackle the lack of studies regarding the perceptions of mHealth applications in the Philippine setting. The target population of the study includes Filipinos living in Manila City within the age group of 18-50 years old. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was utilized, and an adaptive survey questionnaire was formulated to gather data. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. A total of 569 respondents participated in the survey, but only 405 were deemed acceptable in lieu of the established inclusion criteria. Various parametric statistical methods were used, such as the Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA. The results from the tests and statistical analysis showed that the majority of the respondents answered positively towards the use of mHealth applications. There is no significant difference in the perception according to gender (p=0.448), occupation (p=0.680), and age group (p = 0.978) of the respondents. Moreover, it was found out that there is a significant difference in the perception according to the type of lifestyle (p=0.047). Furthermore, users were found to have a more positive perception of mobile health applications than non-users. An understanding of the factors involved in the acceptance of mHealth in the Philippines can lead to its successful implementation and can eventually aid in the improvement of the existing shortcomings in the healthcare system of the Philippines.