Search

Background: The acceptance of wearable intelligent medical devices (WIMDs) and the factors influencing behavioral intention to use them have been scarcely studied. Methods: Integrating the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, the theory of perceived risk, and basing on the features of wearable intelligent medical devices, we propose a research model to identify factors influencing the acceptance of WIMDs. Using data collected from 2,192 respondents in China from an online survey, we used structural equation modeling to test the measurement and structural models. Findings: The findings suggest that: (1) facilitating conditions (path coefficient = 0.942, P < 0.001) are critical to the use WIMDs; (2) behavioral intention is a significant mediator of the effects of perceived risk, perceived cost, health expectation, perceived ease of use, and social influence on use behavior (path coefficient = 0.210, P < 0.001); (3) health expectation (path coefficient = 0.860, P < 0.001), perceived ease of use (path coefficient = 0.289, P < 0.001), and social influence (path coefficient = 0.153, P < 0.001) are found to play essential roles in predicting behavioral intention; (4) perceived cost (path coefficient = 0.034, P < 0.05) and perceived risk (path coefficient = -0.031, P < 0.05) have no significant effect on behavioral intention; and (5) people with underlying diseases have lower health expectations and perceived costs. Interpretation: The modified unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model in our research is a reliable model to evaluate the user acceptance of WIMDs. Funding Information: This study was supported by a project grant from National Key Research and Development Program of China: Artificial Intelligence Management and Service Model for Public Health and Medicine (2018YFC0116800). Declaration of Interests: All other authors declare no competing interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing TongRen Hospital, Capital Medical University (TRECKY2019-049) and all respondents provided informed consent online. Personal data were anonymized prior to analysis.