@Article{info:doi/10.2196/13844,
author="Steeb, Theresa
and Wessely, Anja
and Mastnik, Sebastian
and Brinker, Titus Josef
and French, Lars Einar
and Niesert, Anne-Charlotte
and Berking, Carola
and Heppt, Markus Vincent",
title="Patient Attitudes and Their Awareness Towards Skin Cancer--Related Apps: Cross-Sectional Survey",
journal="JMIR Mhealth Uhealth",
year="2019",
month="Jul",
day="02",
volume="7",
number="7",
pages="e13844",
keywords="skin cancer; melanoma; mobile applications; telemedicine; awareness; patient education",
abstract="Background: In the emerging era of digitalization and electronic health, skin cancer--related apps represent useful tools to support dermatologic consultation and examination. Yet, little is known about how patients perceive the value of such apps. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate patient attitudes and their awareness toward skin cancer--related apps. Methods: A cross-sectional study including 200 patients from the oncological outpatient unit was conducted at the University Hospital (LMU Munich, Germany) between September and December 2018. Patients were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire on the popularity and usefulness of health-related and skin cancer--related apps. A descriptive analysis was performed with the expression of categorical variables as frequencies and percentages. For continuous variables, the median and range were indicated. Contingency tables and chi-square tests were performed to investigate associations between sociodemographic data and selected items of the questionnaire. Results: A total of 98.9{\%} (195/197) of patients had never used skin cancer--related apps or could not remember. In 49.7{\%} (93/187) of cases, patients were unsure about the usefulness of skin cancer apps, whereas 42.6{\%} (78/183) thought that skin cancer apps could supplement or support the professional skin examination performed by a physician. However, 47.9{\%} (90/188) were interested in acquiring more information by their dermatologists about skin cancer apps. Young age (P=.002), male gender (P=.02), a previous history of melanoma (P=.004), and higher educational level (P=.002) were significantly associated with a positive attitude. Nevertheless, 55.9{\%} (105/188) preferred a printed patient brochure on skin cancer to downloading and using an app. Conclusions: The experience and knowledge of skin cancer--related apps was surprisingly low in this population, although there was a high general interest in more information about such apps. Printed patient brochures were the preferred information source. ",
issn="2291-5222",
doi="10.2196/13844",
url="https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/7/e13844/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/13844",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31267978"
}