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Can Smartphones Promote Cancer Prevention Behaviours in Healthy Young Adults? A Prospective Study

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Abstract

Cancer prevention should start as early as possible. Young adults would benefit largely from the use of a smartphone app aiming at promoting cancer prevention behaviours. The aims of the study described in this paper are to (1) examine the user participation and engagement with a cancer prevention app in real-life settings and (2) assess changes in the users’ cancer prevention behaviours. A cancer prevention smartphone app called Happy was developed and released to the general population. Data from registered app users’ (N = 3326) demographics and baseline cancer prevention behaviours was analysed. App engagement was measured and all behaviour data logged through the app was analysed to assess the effectiveness of the app in the promotion of cancer prevention behaviours. User demographics and baseline behaviour assessment show that the app reached its intended target population: young adults that generally do not comply with cancer prevention guidelines. Logged behavioural data showed an increased frequency in several cancer prevention behaviours and a significant increase in the overall putative cancer prevention level (p < 0.001). However, user engagement with the app was limited and might condition the long-term impact of such changes. Happy reached its intended population and seems to be an effective tool to promote cancer prevention. Further research is needed to fully assess its long-term persuasive potential.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the users that downloaded and used the app voluntarily participating in the study.

Funding

This work was supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation through Project HYPE and by the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology (FCT) [grant number SFRH/BD/92996/2013].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal

    Nuno Ribeiro & Filipe Santos-Silva

  2. Ipatimup, Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Nuno Ribeiro & Filipe Santos-Silva

  3. Departamento de Comunicação e Arte, DigiMedia, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Nuno Ribeiro & Ana Margarida Pisco Almeida

  4. RECI – Research in Education and Community Intervention, Escola Superior de Saúde Jean Piaget de Vila Nova de Gaia, Instituto Piaget, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luís Moreira

Authors
  1. Nuno Ribeiro
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  2. Luís Moreira
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  3. Ana Margarida Pisco Almeida
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  4. Filipe Santos-Silva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nuno Ribeiro.

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This study was approved by the University of Aveiro’s (Portugal) Ethics Committee.

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Ribeiro, N., Moreira, L., Almeida, A.M.P. et al. Can Smartphones Promote Cancer Prevention Behaviours in Healthy Young Adults? A Prospective Study. J Canc Educ 34, 847–853 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1382-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1382-0

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