Aging barriers influencing mobile health usability for older adults: A literature based framework (MOLD-US)
Abstract
BACKGROUND With the growing population of older adults as a potential user group of mHealth, the need increases for mHealth interventions to address specific aging characteristics of older adults. The existence of aging barriers to computer use is widely acknowledged. Yet, usability studies show that mHealth still fails to be appropriately designed for older adults and their expectations. To enhance designs of mHealth aimed at older adult populations, it is essential to gain insight into aging barriers that impact the usability of mHealth as experienced by these adults. OBJECTIVES This study aims to synthesize literature on aging barriers to digital (health) computer use, and explain, map and visualize these barriers in relation to the usability of mHealth by means of a framework. METHODS We performed a scoping review to synthesize and summarize reported physical and functional age barriers in relation to digital (mobile) health applications use. Aging barriers reported in the literature were mapped onto usability aspects categorized by Nielsen to explain their influence on user experience of mHealth. A framework (MOLD-US) was developed summarizing the evidence on the influence of aging barriers on mHealth use experienced by older adults. RESULTS Four key categories of aging barriers influencing usability of mHealth were identified: cognition, motivation, physical ability and perception. Effective and satisfactory use of mHealth by older adults is complicated by cognition and motivation barriers. Physical ability and perceptual barriers further increase the risk of user errors and fail to notice important interaction tasks. Complexities of medical conditions, such as diminished eye sight related to diabetes or deteriorated motor skills as a result of rheumatism, can cause errors in user interaction. CONCLUSIONS This research provides a novel framework for the exploration of aging barriers and their causes influencing mHealth usability in older adults. This framework allows for further systematic empirical testing and analysis of mHealth usability issues, as it enables results to be classified and interpreted based on impediments intrinsic to usability issues experienced by older adults. Importantly, the paper identifies a key need for future research on motivational barriers impeding mhealth use of older adults. More insights are needed in particular to disaggregating normal age related functional changes from specific medical conditions that influence experienced usefulness of mHealth by these adults.
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Disadvantaged populations have limited capacity to use digital health tools due to technical illiteracy.
“Our findings also agreed with existing studies in that more attention should be given to disadvantaged populations with limited capacity to use digital health tools due to technical illiteracy, and that adequate training and continuous incentives should be in place to ensure their sustainable uptake88,89.”
From Digital health interventions for non-communicable disease management in primary health care in low-and middle-income countries (2023) · cites this paper as [88]
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- Authors
- Wildenbos, G. A., Peute, L., & Jaspers, M.
- Affiliations
- Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Wildenbos, G.A.
- Venue
- International Journal of Medical Informatics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-06
- Volume
- 114
- Pages
- 66-75
- ISSN
- 1386-5056 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2794672783
- Semantic Scholar
- 43f1323f114a53b77021637c2e8c764260c32112
- Cited by
- 495
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 78 · 2025: 73 · 2024: 69 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 80 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 52 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 9.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Medical Informatics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Keywords
- mobile health, older adults, age-related cognitive decline, physical abilities, user errors, digital health applications, rheumatism
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aging, Attitude to Computers, Diabetes Mellitus, Humans, Middle Aged, User-Computer Interface, Telemedicine, Needs Assessment, Meaningful Use, Mobile Applications
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