Smart Phone Acceptance among Physicians: Application of Structural Equation Modelling in the Largest Iranian University

BACKGROUND The present study aimed to determine attitudes and effective factors in the acceptance of smart phones by physicians of the largest University of Medical Sciences in the south of Iran. METHODS This cross-sectional study was performed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in 2014. Study participants included 200 physicians working in the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences selected through two-stage stratified sampling, but 185 participants completed the study. The study data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire completed through a 5-point Likert scale. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts, its construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis, and its reliability by Cronbach's alpha of 0.802. All data analyses were performed using SPSS (version 22) and LISREL (version 8.8). RESULTS Results showed that most physicians had a desirable attitude towards using smart phones. Besides, the results of SEM indicated a significant relationship between attitude and compatibility, observability, personal experience, voluntariness of use and perceived usefulness. Moreover, some important fitness indices revealed appropriate fitness of the study model (p=0.26, X2/df=1.35, RMR=0.070, GFI=0.77, AGFI=0.71, NNFI=0.93, CFI=0.94). CONCLUSION The results revealed that compatibility, observability, personal experience, voluntariness of use and perceived usefulness were effective in the physicians' attitude towards using smart phones. Thus, by preparation of the required infrastructures, policymakers in the field of health technology can enhance the utilization of smart phones in hospitals.