Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Digital Public Health

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1648212

This article is part of the Research TopicStrategies to Improve Awareness and Management of Cancer Risk Factors and ScreeningsView all 6 articles

Piloting a Cancer Awareness App Across Six European Countries: A Pre-Post Study

Provisionally accepted
Furqan  AhmedFurqan Ahmed1*Silvana Melissa  Romero SalettiSilvana Melissa Romero Saletti2Erica  D’SouzaErica D’Souza3Carolina  EspinaCarolina Espina3David  RitchieDavid Ritchie3Ana  Molina BarcelóAna Molina Barceló4Marina  Pinto CarbóMarina Pinto Carbó4Paula  Romeo CerveraPaula Romeo Cervera4Teresa  SeumTeresa Seum5Hermann  BrennerHermann Brenner5Stephan  Van den BrouckeStephan Van den Broucke2Maria  KriniMaria Krini6Cristiana  FonsecaCristiana Fonseca7Patricia  PintoPatricia Pinto8Diana  KrivicDiana Krivic9Helena  Ros ComesanaHelena Ros Comesana10Wendy  YaredWendy Yared10Rebekka  WiersingRebekka Wiersing1Hajo  ZeebHajo Zeeb1,11Tilman  BrandTilman Brand1
  • 1Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, Bremen, Germany
  • 2Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
  • 3Environment and Lifestyle Epidemiology Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), Lyon, France
  • 4Cancer and Public Health Research Unit, The Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region (FISABIO), Valencia, Spain
  • 5Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
  • 6Pagkyprios Syndesmos Karkinopathon kai Filon 1986 (PASYKAF), Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 7Cancro (Portuguese League Against Cancer , LPCC), Lisbon, Portugal
  • 8Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro (Portuguese League Against Cancer , LPCC), Lisbon, Portugal
  • 9Association of Slovenian Cancer Societies (ASCS), Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 10Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL), Brussels, Belgium
  • 11Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: Cancer remains a significant public health challenge in Europe, accounting for over 22% of global cancer cases. Mobile health applications may help to increase the awareness of cancer risks and preventive behaviors. However, usability barriers and disparities in digital health literacy (DHL) may limit their impact. Objective: This study evaluated the usability of the EU Mobile App for Cancer Prevention and changes in cancer awareness associated with use across six European countries (Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain), focusing on variations by DHL and sociodemographic factors. Methods: A pre-post design was employed, combining pre- and post-usage surveys (N=328 pre; n=77 post). Participants interacted with the app for seven days. Usability was assessed via the System Usability Scale (SUS), cancer awareness via an 18-item quiz, and DHL using the eHEALS tool. Descriptive statistics summarized key variables, while t-tests and ANOVAs assessed group differences in usability and cancer awareness outcomes. Results: A total of 328 participants completed the pre-usage survey, with 77 proceeding to the post-usage phase; the primary reason for dropout was technical difficulties. The app’s overall usability was rated as moderate (Mean=62.56 on the SUS) and did not differ significantly across demographic or usage subgroups. Cancer awareness scores improved from 50.45 to 53.31 (p<0.001) showing significant moderate improvement, particularly among those with lower DHL and higher education. We observed no dose response relationship between self-reported app usage (frequency or session duration) and changes in cancer awareness. Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates that the EU Mobile App for Cancer Prevention can enhance cancer awareness, while currently the usability was judged to be moderate. Targeted refinements in navigation, setup procedures, and content tailoring for low-DHL users are essential to improve engagement and ensure equitable reach.

Keywords: cancer prevention, mobile health, digital health literacy, usability, European Union, Pre-post study

Received: 16 Jun 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Ahmed, Romero Saletti, D’Souza, Espina, Ritchie, Barceló, Carbó, Cervera, Seum, Brenner, Van den Broucke, Krini, Fonseca, Pinto, Krivic, Comesana, Yared, Wiersing, Zeeb and Brand. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Furqan Ahmed, Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, Bremen, Germany

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.