Aim: To develop a mobile app for education and screening regarding oral cancer in the general population.
Materials and methods: A mobile app titled Prayaas-Oral Cancer Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation was designed and developed to be installed on a basic mobile handset with or without internet. It was aimed for the common public, patients as well as healthcare providers. The contents included all information in the pictorial format as well as videos regarding oral cancer awareness, tobacco de-addiction, self-oral examination, various surgeries, and rehabilitation options. It was pilot tested in 50 factory workers of rural set-up. Participants' feedback was recorded using a self- report questionnaire.
Results: Overall feedback was very positive, they found the app easy to operate, enhancing knowledge regarding oral cancer and they recommended this to be used for the general population.
Conclusions: Within limitations of this pilot study, it can be inferred that mobile technology can be successfully used to reach out to bottom of the pyramid population residing in inaccessible rural population for creating public health issues such as oral cancer.
Clinical significance: Oral cancer is preventable through risk factor intervention especially tobacco de-addiction. The self- oral examination can be a very critical factor in early diagnosis of oral cancer. Access to care is a major issue in our country owing to low levels of education, lower income and exposure to risk factors such as tobacco. The fact that today there is widespread use of mobile technology by people belonging to all socioeconomic groups can be harnessed for this public health awareness initiative. This app can be used as a tool for patient education for prevention as well as early detection of oral cancer, both of which can be key to reduce oral cancer morbidity and mortality in India.
Keywords: Mobile app; Oral cancer Tobacco deaddiction..