Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Cancer
Date Submitted: Apr 9, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 9, 2023 - Apr 23, 2023
Date Accepted: Oct 27, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Development and Promotion of a Mobile Health App for Adolescents Based on the European Code Against Cancer: Retrospective Cohort Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Emerging mobile health (mHealth) technologies, informed by scientific evidence and ethical standards, hold great promise and potential for engaging consumers and patients and supporting providers in delivery of cancer prevention and care. The WASABY application (App) was developed as a novel evidence-based mHealth tool to promote age-appropriate messages of the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC) in Europe.
Objective:
To assess the results of the development, piloting and dissemination of the WASABY App through a three-fold evaluation framework, including data on social media promotion, App store traffic, and App user performance.
Methods:
The WASABY App’s content was developed based on the ECAC’s scientific evidence and co-created with cancer-focused civil society organizations. Its ten modules were operationalized using the Health Belief Model (HBM), set upon a conceptual framework of gamification following a space-based learning repetition structure, and refined through two subsequent rounds of testing. A retrospective cohort study of the WASABY App database of registered users from 4 February to 30 June 2021 was assessed through a three-fold pilot evaluation framework reflecting: (a) social media promotion; (b) App store traffic, and (c) App performance. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were conducted to understand the association of sociodemographic variables with the user’s performance analytics.
Results:
Following intense promotion on social media and related App store traffic, a sample of n=748 users aged 14 to 19 years-old were included in the study cohort. The sample had a mean 16.08 years-old (y) (SD: 1.28y), was overrepresented by female (66.71%). Most users were non-smokers (92.10%), had a null or infrequent alcohol consumption (57.75% and 33.42%, respectively). and declared being physically active between 1-5h a week (67.51%). Overall, the App content captured high interest with 40.78% of users visiting the 10 individual modules. Sex and smoke use were a predictor of App completion rates, whereby male and smoker users were less likely to complete its contents (OR: 0.878, 95% CI: 0.809-0.954; OR: 0.835, 95% CI: 0.735-0.949, respectively).
Conclusions:
The experience of piloting the WASABY App offers a valuable case study on how to disseminate evidence-based recommendations on cancer prevention through a novel digital health tool aimed at young people in Europe. The data from the pilot provides valuable insights for the implementation of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which includes the development of the EU Mobile App for Cancer Prevention. Clinical Trial: N/A
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