Health Monitoring Smart Clothing: Understanding its Acceptance among Older Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the key factors that influence older adults’ perception and intention to wear health monitoring smart clothing. An online survey was conducted with a nationwide convenience sample of 376 older adults living in U.S. Participants first watched a short video stimulus introducing health monitoring smart clothing and then completed the survey. The findings imply that older adults who are satisfied with expressive and tracking attributes of health monitoring smart clothing find it useful, easier to use, and socially acceptable, which lead them to more likely use it. This study addressed the existing literature gap which did not consider the impact of clothing attributes on perception and wearing intention of healthcare wearables. The findings can be a useful guide for the industry professionals to expand their product category in this wearable healthcare market. Limitations and recommendations for future studies were presented.