How low-income adults in China perceive health and health management mobile applications

Aim/Objective: To examine the perceptions of low-income adults in suburban/rural China regarding health and health management mobile applications. Investigating barriers affecting their adoption of mobile health technology will facilitate better mobile intervention design, lower the medical burden on governments and society, and improve access to health knowledge for vulnerable groups.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with low-income adults aged 25-45 (eight women, eight men). The interviewees were asked about their perceptions of health, user experiences with wearables, and mobile health applications.

Results: Interviewees lacked a clear understanding of mental health. Most stopped using wearables due to unpleasant experiences. Making medical appointments or consultations using mobile devices was common to save time and cost, but interviewees did not find devices for monitoring health useful. Interviewees used a variety of mobile applications for getting health information through active searching or by following specific health influencers.

Conclusions: The adoption of digital and mobile technologies for health monitoring and management among the interviewed low-income adults in suburban/rural China is low. Most of the interviewees used multifunctional and content platforms for health information. Low perceived benefits of using mHealth technology hindered adoption. Some stopped using mobile health devices because of poor user experiences. Interviewees found difficulties in identifying genuine health products on popular content and e-commerce platforms. There is an unmet need to provide them with high-quality health knowledge.