Name: Navneet Kaur Bains & Navdeep Kaur
Country: India

Year: 2025
Volume: Volume-10, Issue-2 (July-December)
Page Number: 144-152
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18068579

ABSTRACT
Background
The rapid digitalization of healthcare has led to the widespread adoption of digital health platforms, particularly for online appointment booking. While these platforms enhance accessibility and efficiency, their actual usage varies across population groups, raising concerns about demographic disparities in digital healthcare access.

Aim/Objectives
The study aims to examine the effect of demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, education, occupation, income, and marital status, on patients’ use behaviour of digital health appointment booking platforms, and to identify significant variations across demographic segments.

Methodology
A quantitative, descriptive, and analytical research design was adopted. Primary data were collected from 390 respondents in the Tricity region (Chandigarh, Panchkula, and Mohali) using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and one-way ANOVA were applied using SPSS to analyze demographic differences in digital health use behaviour at a 5% level of significance.

Results
The findings reveal significant differences in digital health platform use behaviour across age, gender, education, occupation, and income groups, while marital status shows no significant influence. Younger, highly educated, salaried, and higher-income respondents demonstrate greater engagement with digital health booking platforms, indicating persistent demographic-based usage gaps.

Conclusion
The study concludes that demographic factors play a crucial role in shaping digital health booking behaviour, highlighting that access alone does not ensure equitable utilization. Policymakers and platform developers must adopt demographically sensitive strategies, including digital literacy initiatives and user-friendly platform design, to promote inclusive and equitable access to digital healthcare.

Keywords: Digital health platforms; Appointment booking behaviour; Demographic determinants; eHealth literacy; Healthcare accessibility