Elderly and middle-aged intention to use m-health services: an empirical evidence from a developing country

Purpose: m-health services for different age groups are becoming an emerging field in the health-care industry, especially in low-resource environments such as developing countries such as Bangladesh. Hence, this study’s primary aim is to identify the factors that influence the middle-aged and elderly’s intention to use m-health services. Design/methodology/approach: This study applied the extended version of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology to explore middle-aged and elderly’s intention to use m-health services. There were 235 respondents, of which 123 (52.34%) were in the middle-aged group, whereas 112 (47.66%) were in the older group. Both groups were found to have more male participants than female participants. The partial least square (PLS) method was used to analyze data. Findings: The study found that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating condition, technological anxiety and resistance to change (p < 0.05) had a significant influence on middle-aged intention to use m-health services. Social influence and perceived physical condition (p > 0.05) had no significant effect on middle-aged intention to use m-health services. On the other hand, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating condition and resistance to change (p <* 0.05) significantly influenced the elderly’s intention to use m-health services. However, the social impact of perceived physical condition and technological anxiety (p > 0.05) had no significant effect on the elderly’s intention to use m-health services. Originality/value: A good number of studies are available in the current literature, examining the factors adoption of m-health services in both developed and developing economy context. However, very few studies examine the factors that influence behavioral intention to use m-health services concerning the two different age groups, such as middle-aged and elderly. Moreover, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is a shortage of literature on this topic built on the comparative analysis between the two age groups.