Mobile Health Apps for Oral Cancer-A Scoping Review of User Experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/3vjn1984Keywords:
Oral cancer; Mobile health applications; Digital health; Health behavior; Technology acceptance; Patient satisfaction.Abstract
Mobile health (mHealth) applications have become a tool for enhancing awareness, facilitating early detection, aiding diagnosis, and supporting treatment follow-up. However, the sustainability and effectiveness of these applications depend on user experience (UX) influencing adoption, engagement, and trust. A comprehensive, independent search was conducted in 3 databases (PubMed-Medline, Scopus, Embase) and 2 additional sources (ScienceDirect and Google scholar) from inception till 10th September 2025, adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis: Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. Study designs such as experimental, quasi-experimental, cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional assessing users of all ages their experiences towards oral cancer based mobile applications were included. Experiences were assessed in terms of adoption, acceptance, usability, feasibility and satisfaction. Two independent reviewers screened the articles with 0.89 agreement rate as per Cohen’s kappa. Rayyan AI software was used for screening. Narrative evidence synthesis approach was used to present the extracted data. The initial search identified 693 studies, of which 7 met inclusion criteria. Across studies, usability, feasibility, acceptance, adoption, and satisfaction were reported positively among healthcare professionals, patients, and community participants. Usability and feasibility were higher among applications with offline functionality or stable internet connectivity and digital literacy. Acceptance and adoption were high across user groups, although medicolegal concerns were reported by professionals. Satisfaction was associated with internet connectivity and gender, with higher ratings among men. Professionals prioritized clinical utility and documentation, whereas non-clinical users focused on ease of use and health awareness. mHealth applications for oral cancer are generally well received across user groups with a positive user experience. Future research should prioritize usability assessments using standardized tools. Tailoring app design to address the priorities of all user groups will improve user experience, which will be key to driving adoption and sustained use.
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