2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

335742
Mobile phone multimedia messaging intervention for breast cancer screening


Monday, November 2, 2015 : 11:30 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.

Hee Lee, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, St Paul, MN
Douglas Yee, MD, Department of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
Chap Le, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, Afghanistan
Rahel Ghebre, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Background. Korean American women have one of the highest breast cancer mortality rates and lowest breast cancer screening rates among American women. In response to the need to enhance breast cancer screening, this study aims to develop and test a 7-day mobile phone application (app)-based mammogram intervention to promote breast cancer screening.  

Methods. Guided by Fogg’s Behavior Model, we developed an app-based mammogram intervention designed to increase knowledge of breast cancer screening and the receipt of a mammogram. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with baseline, one week post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up testing among 120 Korean American women who were aged 40 and older and had not had mammograms within the last 2 years.

Results. At one week post-test, no significant between-group differences were found in score changes for knowledge. However, intervention subjects reported significantly decreased levels of fatalism and improved levels of perceived benefits, screening guideline knowledge, and self-efficacy (p < 0.01). Significant between-group difference (p<.01) was found in the receipt of mammogram at 6-month follow-up test. 98.2% of the participants expressed satisfaction and 96.5% reported that they would recommend the program to their friends.

Conclusions. Mobile application-based intervention is a promising tool to increase both knowledge and receipt of mammograms. Given the widespread usage of mobile phone among minority populations, a mobile app-based health intervention could be an effective method of reaching hard-to-recruit populations with high breast cancer burden, using individually tailored messages that cover broad content areas and overcome restrictions to place and time of delivery.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify the feasibility and acceptability of mobile application based intervention in promoting breast cancer screening Demonstrate the effectiveness of mobile app-based intervention in increasing knowledge, intent, and receipt of breast cancer screening.

Keyword(s): Cancer and Women’s Health, Health Promotion and Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified because I have conducted intervention research using mobile health (mHealth) to promote cancer screening for the past 9 years and have given multiple presentations in national and global scientific conferences.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3190.0: Let's talk about it: Cervical cancer, messaging and intergenerational communication (a collaborative session between the Women's Caucus and Cancer Forum)