TITLE:
Case Report: Retirees’ Acceptance and Perceived Contribution of Smartphone in Chronic Disease Management
AUTHORS:
Mei-Ju Chen
KEYWORDS:
Smartphone, Elderly, Chronic Disease Management
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.2 No.6,
August
22,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Objectives: As smartphones become more
popular, so do their applications. However, expectations of the elderly regarding
the contribution of smartphone in controlling chronic diseases remain unclear.
This research aims to understand senior retirees’ smartphone acceptance, perceived
contribution of smartphone application in facilitating chronic disease control
and their association. Findings from the study provide insights for the
development of mobile applications in chronic disease management. Methods:
convenience sampling was conducted to recruit 110 senior retirees who worked as
volunteers in a regional hospital in Taipei. Data was collected through a
structured questionnaire. Descriptive, chi-square and logistic regression
statistics were applied to analyze data. Results: A total of 108 completed
questionnaires were collected with a return rate of 98.2%. Mean age was 65.34 ±
9.59 years old. Of all respondents, 40.7% reported acceptance of
internet-enabled smartphones and 54.6% expected that smartphones would
facilitate chronic disease management in the future. However, a statistically
significant 37.3% of those expecting smartphone to play a role in disease
management did not accept smartphones yet. After controlling for age and education,
logistic regression analysis showed that older adults with higher smartphone
acceptance were more likely to expect use of smartphone in case management (OR =
7.439, p