Determinants of Trust in Acceptance of Medical Assistive Technologies

Abstract

This article examines the relevance of trust in the process of adoption of health-related technologies in home environments. In a multi-method empirical approach this topic is firstly qualitatively explored (focus groups) and in the second step the findings are quantitatively validated (online questionnaire). The research focused on different user factors (user diversity) in the evaluation of opinions and attitudes towards the relevance of trust conditions (e.g., reliability, trustworthiness, operability) and trust “mediators” (e.g., physician as a role model, scientific evidence, hands-on experience) as well as assessment of the importance and expectations regarding various features of the devices. Results showed significant effects of factors age and gender, and influences of persons’ health conditions on the examined trust indicators. In addition, analyses revealed that aspects of trust in medical assistive technology to a certain degree can be perceived as predictors of technology acceptance. Next to trust, the findings of this research underline the relevance of considering the users’ diversity in the research and design of health-supporting technologies in home environments in order to ensure their successful integration in the long term.