Effects of Mobile Application Program (App)-Assisted Health Education on Preventive Behaviors and Cancer Literacy among Women with Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

The effect of a mobile application for patients living with gynaecological cancer on their physical and psychosocial adaptation

BACKGROUND

Education of patients with cancer and patient self-management allow better clinical outcomes using e-health or mobile health applications.

AIMS

To develop a mobile application to increase the physical and psychosocial adaptation for patients with gynecological cancer who are receiving chemotherapy and to investigate the effectiveness of the mobile application.

METHODS

This study was planned as a parallel, single-blind, pre-post test randomised controlled experimental study in which two groups (intervention-control) will be compared. A total of 52 gynecological cancer patients were planned to be included in the study.

FINDINGS

This study is in the protocol stage. Therefore, the results of the study have not yet been reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence-based information within JineOnkolojik Destek provides rich data on coping with chemotherapy. In addition, the visual and auditory elements, real patient stories and videos, and the ability to ask questions and receive counselling from the research team can positively affect the physical and psychosocial health of the cancer survivors.

Digital health interventions for cervical cancer care: A systematic review and future research opportunities

BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is a malignancy among women worldwide, which is responsible for innumerable deaths every year. The primary objective of this review study is to offer a comprehensive and synthesized overview of the existing literature concerning digital interventions in cervical cancer care. As such, we aim to uncover prevalent research gaps and highlight prospective avenues for future investigations.

METHODS

This study adopted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology where a total of 26 articles were reviewed from an initial set of 1110 articles following an inclusion-exclusion criterion.

RESULTS

The review highlights a deficiency in existing studies that address awareness dissemination, screening facilitation, and treatment provision for cervical cancer. The review also reveals future research opportunities like explore innovative approaches using emerging technologies to enhance awareness campaigns and treatment accessibility, consider diverse study contexts, develop sophisticated machine learning models for screening, incorporate additional features in machine learning research, investigate the impact of treatments across different stages of cervical cancer, and create more user-friendly applications for cervical cancer care.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study can contribute to mitigating the adverse effects of cervical cancer and improving patient outcomes. It also highlights the untapped potential of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, which could significantly impact our society.

How education level affects postoperative rehabilitation and follow-up: a single-center experience

BACKGROUND

Radical prostatectomy remains the fundamental treatment for prostate cancer, and improving patients' compliance with postoperative follow-ups is essential for improving patients' quality of life. This study investigates the effect of education levels on patients' recovery and follow-up after radical prostatectomy.

METHODS

Data from 1,112 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy between 2011 and 2020 were collected using medical records, and "pc-follow" systems were used to collect patients' baseline information, education level, pathological information, number of outpatient visits, the time interval between each visit, and PSA test data.

RESULTS

Regarding postoperative outpatient data, there was no difference in the number of outpatient visits among the different education level groups in Shanghai (P = 0.063). A significant difference was found in the interval between outpatient visits among the groups (P < 0.001). Furthermore, significant differences were detected in the number and duration of outpatient clinic visits among the education level groups in all patients (P = 0.016, P = 0.0027). By contrast, no significant difference was found in the recovery time of urinary continence between all patients and those in Shanghai, grouped according to education level (P = 0.082, P = 0.68). For all patients and patients in the Shanghai area, the number of PSA follow-ups increased gradually with an increasing level of education (P < 0.001, P = 0.0029).

CONCLUSIONS

Education level affected the number of postoperative clinic visits, compliance, and the number of PSA tests. However, no significant effect on the recovery of urinary continence was found. Further, clinicians must increase their focus on patients with low education levels to achieve equitable access to health services for all patients.

Digital Therapeutics (DTx) Expand Multimodal Treatment Options for Chronic Low Back Pain: The Nexus of Precision Medicine, Patient Education, and Public Health

Digital therapeutics (DTx, software as a medical device) provide personalized treatments for chronic diseases and expand precision medicine beyond pharmacogenomics-based pharmacotherapies. In this perspective article, we describe how DTx for chronic low back pain (CLBP) can be integrated with pharmaceutical drugs (e.g., NSAIDs, opioids), physical therapy (PT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and patient empowerment. An example of an FDA-authorized DTx for CLBP is RelieVRx, a prescription virtual reality (VR) app that reduces pain severity as an adjunct treatment for moderate to severe low back pain. RelieVRx is an immersive VR system that delivers at-home pain management modalities, including relaxation, self-awareness, pain distraction, guided breathing, and patient education. The mechanism of action of DTx is aligned with recommendations from the American College of Physicians to use non-pharmacological modalities as the first-line therapy for CLBP. Herein, we discuss how DTx can provide multimodal therapy options integrating conventional treatments with exposome-responsive, just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI). Given the flexibility of software-based therapies to accommodate diverse digital content, we also suggest that music-induced analgesia can increase the clinical effectiveness of digital interventions for chronic pain. DTx offers opportunities to simultaneously address the chronic pain crisis and opioid epidemic while supporting patients and healthcare providers to improve therapy outcomes.

Validity of a questionnaire on self-efficacy for Pap test adherence screening

Introduction

Self-efficacy has been related to different health preventive behaviors, included adherence to the Papanicolaou test—also called Pap smear or Pap test. The aim of this study is to test construct and criterion validity and reliability of a questionnaire on self-efficacy and the Pap test in Chilean women.

Method

This study was carried out on a sample of 969 women of ages from 25 to 64, who are users of the public health care system in Santiago, Chile. The validity of the Self-Efficacy Scale for the Pap Smear Screening Participation (SES-PSSP) questionnaire was done by confirmatory factor analysis, external criteria by t-test, and reliability by Cronbach’s alpha.

Results

Three models were tested, obtaining a questionnaire with 20 items and 2 dimensions. The criteria validity was confirmed by adherence to the Pap test. The final questionnaire has a reliability of 0.95, measured by Cronbach´s alpha.

Conclusion

A valid and reliable questionnaire to measure self-efficacy in relation to the Pap test is a relevant contribution in cervical cancer prevention, especially related to interventions focused on increasing adherence.

Evaluation of mobile health applications for cervical cancer in the digital marketplace

Objective

To assess the quality of mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) for cervical cancer using the mobile app rating scale (MARS), APPLICATIONS scoring system, and app rating using specific statements.

Methods

We searched for cervical cancer apps on two major mobile operating systems (Google Play Store and Apple iTunes Store) in March 2021. Eligible apps were downloaded and assessed for quality by two independent reviewers using multimodal assessment tools.

Results

The overall quality of the MARS score was 2.61±0.795. The highest scoring app was “The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) Management Guidelines” (3.98). Overall, apps scored highest in the functionality domain, followed by information, engagement, and aesthetics domains. The mean±standard deviation of the APPLICATIONS scoring system was 8.50±1.712. The highest-rated apps were “ASCCP Management Guidelines,” “The British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (BSCCP),” and “Cervical Cancer Guide.” Apps scored the highest in the paid subscription and price domains. By contrast, apps scored poorly in the text search, literature, and subjective presentation domains. Concerning app content, many apps infrequently provided misconceptions regarding cervical cancer. The apps’ rating using specific statements was 7.81±4.562.

Conclusion

Overall, the apps analyzed using the MARS and APPLICATIONS scoring systems demonstrated above-average quality. However, there is a need to improve the essential information conveyed by these applications. Moreover, the assessment tools have influenced different app quality rating results, confirming the lack of standardized quality assessment tools for mHealth apps.