User Acceptance of Location-Tracking Technologies in Health Research: Implications for Study Design and Data Quality

Publication date: Available online 31 January 2018 Source:Journal of Biomedical Informatics Author(s): J. Hardy, T.C. Veinot, X. Yan, V.J. Berrocal, P. Clarke, R. Goodspeed, I.N. Gomez, D. Romero, V.G.V. Vydiswaran Research regarding place and health has undergone a revolution due to the availability of consumer-focused location-tracking devices that reveal fine-grained details of human mobility. Such research requires that participants accept such devices enough to use them in their daily lives. There is a need for a theoretically grounded understanding of acceptance of different location-tracking technology options, and its research implications. Guided by an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), we conducted a 28-day field study comparing 21 chronically ill people’s acceptance of two leading, consumer-focused location-tracking technologies deployed for research purposes: 1) a location-enabled smartphone, and 2) a GPS watch/activity tracker. Participants used both, and completed two surveys and qualitative interviews. Findings revealed that all participants exerted effort to facilitate data capture, such as by incorporating devices into daily routines and developing workarounds to keep devices functioning. Nevertheless, the smartphone was perceived to be significantly easier and posed fewer usability challenges for participants than the watch. Older participants found the watch significantly more difficult to use. For both devices...

Source: Journal of Biomedical Informatics - January 31, 2018 Category: Information Technology Source Type: research