OBJECTIVES: Mobile Health (m-Health) technologies revolutionize healthcare by overcoming time and geographical barriers, crucially aiding developing countries. Despite offering cost-effective, evidence-based solutions, adoption rates are low, especially among the elderly, with many users discontinuing use quickly. Leveraging models like TAM and UTAUT, this study proposes a new model to better understand and enhance m-Health adoption.

METHODS: Data were collected through a survey targeting Brazilian adults (≥18 years), resulting in 512 valid responses. The survey comprised 22 items based on established health-related scales to measure the constructs of Behavioral Intention, Attitude, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Self-Efficacy and Trust. The sample's mean age was 43 years, with 57% female respondents. Most respondents (68.8%) had preceding knowledge of mobile healthcare apps, but only 24.8% of them had used one previously.

RESULTS: Findings suggest significant relationships among the evaluated constructs, particularly for the effects of patient self-efficacy perceptions on perceived ease of use of wearable technology for health purposes (0.813), the effects of patient trust in the mobile app on their perceived usefulness of the app (0.647), and the impacts of perceived usefulness on the patient Attitude toward using mHealth apps (0.868). The model could explain 86.8% of the variance in patient Attitude and 62.2% in patient Behavioral Intention to adopt mHealth apps for consultations.

CONCLUSIONS: Study results indicate important practical insights for healthcare organizations and public healthcare regulators regarding mHealth apps adoption, such as the degree of mobile app diffusion among the population in contrast with the availability of regular healthcare options influence the process, the impact of patient self-confidence and trust in the use and adoption of mobile technologies, and the importance of their perception of the overall usefulness of a mobile app.