Willingness to share personal health information: impact of attitudes, trust and control

Purpose: The study explicates the behavioral factors that determine willingness to share personal health data for secondary uses. Design/methodology/approach: A theoretical model is developed and tested with structural equation modeling using survey data from Finland. Findings: It is shown that attitude towards information sharing is the strongest factor contributing to the willingness to share personal health information. Trust and control serve as mediating factors between the attitude and willingness to share personal health information. Research limitations/implications: The measures of the model need further refinement to cover the various aspects of the behavioral concepts. Practical implications: The model provides useful insights into the factors that affect the willingness for information sharing in healthcare and in other areas where personal information is distributed. Social implications: Sharing of personal health information for secondary purposes can offer social benefits through improvements in healthcare performance. Originality/value: A broad-scale empirical data gives unique view of attitudes towards sharing of personal health information in one national setting.