Wearing our data on our sleeves: exploring health app and wearable use in Singapore

• Main Authors: Lim, Melissa Anne, Muhammad Azri Bin Rahim, Tan, Weile Warrick, Wong, Yi Jie
• Other Authors: Edmund Lee Wei Jian
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Data absenteeism; Health wearables and apps; Health disparities
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174404
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Health wearables and apps offer benefits for physical and mental health. However, data absenteeism (DA) might hinder the realization of these advantages. DA can be defined as a lack of low-socioeconomic status (SES) groups’ health data. The aims of this study are twofold. First, we seek to explicate DA into two levels by exploring its contributing factors. Second, we aim to investigate how DA dimensions are associated with intention to use, usage behavior, and their subsequent impact on physical and mental health outcomes. We conduct a large-scale online survey of Singaporeans (n = 1,008), oversampling low-education and low-income individuals, and in-depth interviews (n = 8) with low-SES Singaporeans. A confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression found support for the variables of technology maintenance cost, digital infrastructure, digital health literacy, organizational trust, and perception of data ownership as key factors of intention and usage behavior. Most notably, digital infrastructure and technology maintenance cost were respectively significant in narrowing and amplifying disparities in intention and usage. Usage of health wearables and apps was tied to improved health outcomes and narrowed psychological well-being disparities between SES groups.