Formative research and design for a mobile health platform for oral cancer screening and detection (OC-DETECT)-a mixed methods study.

Introduction: Oral cancer (OC) in India accounts for one-third of the global burden of OC cases and mortality and is the third most frequent cancer in India. This study details formative research conducted to inform the design of a prototype mobile health platform that would consist of a participant-side mHealth screening app and a clinician side (a desktop-facing interface). The initial design included a risk assessment for general health as well as alcohol and tobacco habits, followed by a tool to upload digital images of the oral cavity taken with a mobile phone. The physician could then review the images remotely and make a provisional diagnosis. Methods: E-Surveys were distributed to healthcare providers associated with the Indian Cancer Society in New Delhi ( Results: By utilizing a user-centered design approach, we concluded that young people and providers welcomed the opportunity use mobile phones to detect potential oral lesions in smokeless tobacco users and to seek care for family members, but had some concerns about issues related to privacy and personal health information. Lack of awareness of oral health issues was identified as a major barrier to seeking care, and a lack of access to reliable and trustworthy educational materials contributed to this problem. Conclusions: As a result of this formative research, a final prototype is presented to produce a mobile health platform for the detection of oral cancer (OC-DETECT) which will then be tested at dental camps in New Delhi administered by the Indian Cancer Society.