Developing screening services for colorectal cancer on Android smartphones.
BACKGROUND
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important health problem in Western countries and also in Asia. It is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in Taiwan. According to the well-known adenoma-to-carcinoma sequence, the majority of CRC develops from colorectal adenomatous polyps. This concept provides the rationale for screening and prevention of CRC. Removal of colorectal adenoma could reduce the mortality and incidence of CRC. Mobile phones are now playing an ever more crucial role in people's daily lives. The latest generation of smartphones is increasingly viewed as hand-held computers rather than as phones, because of their powerful on-board computing capability, capacious memories, large screens, and open operating systems that encourage development of applications (apps).


METHODS
If we can detect the potential CRC patients early and offer them appropriate treatments and services, this would not only promote the quality of life, but also reduce the possible serious complications and medical costs. In this study, an intelligent CRC screening app on Android™ (Google™, Mountain View, CA) smartphones has been developed based on a data mining approach using decision tree algorithms. For comparison, the stepwise backward multivariate logistic regression model and the fecal occult blood test were also used.


RESULTS
Compared with the stepwise backward multivariate logistic regression model and the fecal occult blood test, the proposed app system not only provides an easy and efficient way to quickly detect high-risk groups of potential CRC patients, but also brings more information about CRC to customer-oriented services.


CONCLUSIONS
We developed and implemented an app system on Android platforms for ubiquitous healthcare services for CRC screening. It can assist people in achieving early screening, diagnosis, and treatment purposes, prevent the occurrence of complications, and thus reach the goal of preventive medicine.
1 School of Medical Sociology and Social Work, Chung-Shan Medical University , Taiwan, Republic of China .
Hui-Ching
HC
Wu
Chiao-Jung
CJ
Chang
Chun-Che
CC
Lin
Ming-Chang
MC
Tsai
Che-Chia
CC
Chang
Ming-Hseng
MH
Tseng
D000465:Algorithms; D040421:Cell Phone; D003113:Colonoscopy; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003663:Decision Trees; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D063731:Mobile Applications; D009780:Occult Blood; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan
colorectal cancer; data mining; health monitoring; mobile health telehealth