Women and digital health: a truly inclusive medicine?

Connected health and, in particular, solutions using artificial intelligence now promise a more personalised and more effective form of medicine that is (theoretically) accessible to all. This digital transformation that we are witnessing responds to numerous health challenges: preventive care and the anticipation of medical advances are just a couple of the many advantages associated with this medical revolution. However, an IPSOS 2024 study for EDHEC Business School (1) reveals that women are less supportive of this innovation than men. How can this difference be explained? And why is there a barrier to the adoption of health technologies? Let's take a closer look.

Women less interested in digital technology

‘E-health’ brings together the technologies that improve healthcare management, patient monitoring and access to medical information. This includes websites, smartphone applications and connected objects such as watches or blood glucose meters. But for some people, digital technology is still a complex and sometimes intimidating modality, especially in its components related to artificial intelligence.

The IPSOS/EDHEC (1) study analyses the main trends that the French are facing with regard to digital technologies in the medical field. It highlights a gap in adoption, noting that women, especially those who are inactive, less educated and over the age of 55, are less likely to adopt connected health tools than men. Not always comfortable with digital tools, they sometimes deprive themselves of connected health solutions that are nevertheless designed to simplify their access to care and improve medical monitoring.

This reluctance to use digital health tools reinforces unequal access to care, which is all the more worrying given that women already face increased difficulties in accessing specialists (waiting times of between three and six months, on average). This situation can be explained in particular by the more frequent need for medical follow-up, mainly gynaecological, even as the number of specialists decreases. In this context, digital tools could partially compensate for this lack, but the fact that women are less keen on these solutions limits their adoption.

Not enough information on connected health?

Too few women consider themselves to be well informed about connected health: 34% of them consider themselves to be poorly informed, compared to 27% of men. Here again, this lack of information mainly affects inactive women and those with lower levels of education.

Without a clear view of the advantages and functionalities of digital health tools, it is difficult for them to adopt them without fear. Our latest study shows that this apprehension widens the digital gap between men and women.

Many women are reluctant to use certain applications that do not sufficiently protect personal information, or that may even transfer it to third parties. The fact that they do not know where and how this data is stored makes many women distrustful, which limits their acceptance of digital health.

Reluctance to share health data

Trust is a determining factor in the adoption of connected health technologies. Women express more marked mistrust than men towards the institutions responsible for protecting their data, such as the CNIL.

A sign of this mistrust is women's reluctance to share their health data. When asked whether they would be willing to share this data to enable, for example, artificial intelligence to generate personalised health advice, women are more likely to answer in the negative (40%) than men (32%).

The ‘FemTech’ sector, which brings together technologies and solutions specifically dedicated to women's health (cycle monitoring, fertility, well-being, etc.), is not spared by the particularly sensitive issue of data protection.

According to British researchers (2), some menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracking apps do not always clearly mention the sensitivity of the information (abortions, miscarriages, etc.) in their confidentiality policies. Women fear that their data could be exploited without their consent, or even used against them.

To reassure potential users and increase the use of digital health tools, it is in the interest of those involved in the sector to improve the transparency and security of their systems.

Artificial intelligence in medicine is a scary prospect

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a major step towards more personalised medicine. However, the study reveals that women are more sceptical than men about the benefits of AI (3) for the development of medicine (49% of women compared to 62% of men). This situation raises questions, particularly in view of the increasingly widespread use of AI to assist in the diagnosis and screening of cancers.

The main concerns include the reliability of AI-assisted diagnostics, the protection of personal data and the fear of a dehumanisation of the patient-doctor relationship.

Younger women and those from higher socio-professional categories are, however, more open to these developments, suggesting that the level of education and exposure to technologies play a key role in their acceptance.

Women remain more attached to the human dimension of medicine, which is essential for a relationship of trust in the care pathway. 40.4% of them are opposed to the idea that AI could replace doctors for certain tasks, compared with 31.5% of men. They want technology to support healthcare professionals, not replace them.

In this sense, recent initiatives such as the European hackathon InnovHer (4) brings together professionals, students and companies to develop e-health innovations focused on women's health. By combining technology and a human approach, they show how important dialogue and collaboration with caregivers are in gaining women's support.

Reducing the gender digital divide: towards more inclusive e-health?

The results of the IPSOS/EDHEC study also point to the need to bridge the digital divide that deprives women of the opportunities offered by connected health.

This has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life of women, by offering them easier access to care (remote consultation, better prevention, etc.) and more personalised follow-up. Several other recent surveys (5) suggest that such provisions could help to streamline care pathways and reduce inequalities in access.

But in order to remove the obstacles preventing the adoption of connected health and to propose inclusive and adapted solutions, it is imperative to understand why part of the female population is turning away from digital technology.

A veritable ‘Big Bang’ in prevention for women is conceivable, provided that the sector's stakeholders demonstrate pedagogy and transparency in the processing of data with regard to this section of the population. Placing people at the heart of the system is an essential prerequisite for creating trust and promoting the widespread adoption of digital health tools.

References

(1) Barometer on connected health - « Perception des Français sur la santé connectée – 2e vague, avril 2024 » - https://www.edhec.edu/en/news/discover-results-2nd-barometer-connected-health-bristol-myers-squibb-france-edhec-ipsos

(2) Malki, L. M., Kaleva, I., Patel, D., Warner, M., & Abu-Salma, R. (2024). Exploring Privacy Practices of Female mHealth Apps in a Post-Roe World. In ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) ACM - https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/exploring-privacy-practices-of-female-mhealth-apps-in-a-post-roe-

(3) Les participants à cette étude ont été interrogés sur l'utilisation de l'IA pour assister les médecins dans le diagnostic d'un cancer, notamment dans le cadre des dépistages.

(4) Le Hackathon InnovHer : Une Révolution pour la Santé des Femmes - https://www.ece.fr/2024/11/26/le-hackathon-innovher-une-revolution-pour-la-sante-des-femmes/

(5) Dont: Rapport d’étude sur la santé des femmes, Mars 2024, BVA Xsight/groupe VYV