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ONCOPEDS: A mobile application to improve early diagnosis and timely referral in childhood cancer in a low‐ and middle‐income country—A pilot study
Author(s) -
Vásquez Liliana,
Montoya Jacqueline,
Ugaz Cecilia,
Ríos Ligia,
León Esmeralda,
Maza Iván,
Maradiegue Essy,
Chávez Sharon,
Tarrillo Fanny,
Diaz Rosdali,
Pascual Claudia,
Rojas Ninoska,
Tello Mariela,
Moore Carla,
Shah Darshi,
Cotrina Bernardette,
Bartolo Juan,
Perez Jorge,
Palacios Víctor
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.28908
Subject(s) - medicine , referral , pediatrics , pediatric cancer , cancer , population , secondary care , family medicine , primary care , environmental health
Abstract Background Diagnosis delay in children and adolescents with cancer is a public health problem in Peru that leads to high rates of advanced disease and mortality. We aimed to assess the implementation feasibility and potential utility of ONCOpeds®, a mobile application that provides consultations with pediatric oncologists, in reducing the latency to diagnosis (LD) and referral time (RT) among children and adolescents in Peru diagnosed with cancer. Material and Methods A prospective pilot study was conducted in the region of Callao between November 2017 and April 2018. Primary and secondary care providers were trained on the use of ONCOpeds in five educational sessions. Patients younger than 18 years who resided in Callao and were diagnosed with cancer at four pediatric cancer units in Lima were analyzed by referral type: ONCOpeds facilitated or conventional. Results ONCOpeds was successfully installed in the smartphones of 78 primary and secondary care providers of Callao. During the study period, 23 new cases of cancer in children and adolescents from the region were diagnosed. Ten patients received ONCOpeds‐facilitated referrals and 13 received conventional referrals. The RT decreased among those who received ONCOpeds‐facilitated referrals by 66% ( P = 0.02); however, the LD did not significantly decrease with the use of ONCOpeds. Conclusions The implementation of ONCOpeds was found to be feasible in this pilot study, having a potential utility in improving early diagnosis and referral in children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer. Directions for future research include multicenter studies with a larger population to further test the application's effectiveness.