The Impact of Mobile Health on Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION: Mobile health is an emerging technology around the world that can be effective in cancer screening. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of mobile health applications on cancer screening. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature review of studies related to the use of mobile health applications in cancer screening. We also conducted a comprehensive search of articles on cancer screening related to the use of mobile health applications in journals published between January 1, 2008, and January 31, 2019, using 5 databases: IEEE, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct and PubMed. RESULTS: A total of 23 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. All studies have identified positive effects of applications on cancer screening and clinical health outcomes. Furthermore, more than half of mobile applications had multiple functions such as providing information, planning and education. Moreover, most of the studies, which examined the satisfaction of patients and quality improvement, showed healthcare application users have significantly higher satisfaction of living and it leads to improving quality. CONCLUSION: This study found that the use of mobile health applications has a positive impact on health-related behaviours and outcomes. Application users were more satisfied with applying mobile health applications to manage their health condition in comparison with users who received conventional care.