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. 2021 Nov 4;18(21):11603.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111603.

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

Yi-Hui Lee  1 , Lian-Hua Huang  2 , Su-Hui Chen  3   4 , Jung-Hua Shao  1   5 , Chyong-Huey Lai  6   7   8 , Nan-Ping Yang  9   10
Affiliations

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

Yi-Hui Lee et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed (1) to study the effects of health education on preventive behaviors and cancer literacy among women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN); (2) to compare the effects of mobile application program (App)-assisted health education with traditional book-form health education.

Participants: A total of 132 women ages 20 to 69 years women.

Methods: This prospective longitudinal study enrolled 132 CIN women who were evaluated three times. Propensity score matching was used by controlling subjects' age strata, body mass index, education level, occupation, and type of surgery.

Results: The influences of various educational tools were investigated. Four domains were assessed, including health behavior, attitude towards behavior change, self-efficacy of behavior, and cervical cancer (CCa) literacy. Significant improvements in behavior change and CCa literacy due to a health education program were observed (p ≤ 0.002). The App combined with a traditional booklet had the highest score for behavior change and was significantly greater than the booklet-only learning (p = 0.002). The App-assisted form, either App alone or combined with booklet, had a significantly better impact on health promotion when compared to the booklet alone (p = 0.045 and 0.005, respectively). App-only learning had the highest score of CCa literacy (p = 0.004).

Conclusion: Health education interventions can have positive effects in terms of change of behavior and CCa literacy. App-assisted learning could be used as a supportive technology, and App learning alone or combined with a traditional booklet may be an innovative model of clinical health promotion for women with CIN.

Keywords: application program (App); health education; innovative model; supportive technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest, including directorships, stock holdings or contracts.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Enrolled subjects and study protocol. Abbreviations: LSIL, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; HPV, human papillomavirus; CIN, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Notes: * actual effect of the booklet-form instrument; ** actual effect of the App-form instrument; *** actual effect of the App plus booklet-form instrument.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Photos of App screen, translated into English (initial in Chinese) ((A) home page, (B) first page of health education, (C) 12th to 18th questions as an example; 17th and 18th answers listed if question selected, (D) alternative EXCEL form provided).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Simulated trends of four domains by time ((A) Health behavior; (B) Attitude towards behavior change; (C) Self-efficacy of behavior; (D) CCa literacy).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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