title: Mobile health application for remote oral cancer surveillance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To determine the effectiveness of a mobile phone-based remote oral cancer surveillance program (Oncogrid) connecting primary care dental practitioners and frontline health care workers (FHW) with oral cancer specialists.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population (N = 3,440) included a targeted cohort (n = 2,000) and an opportunistic cohort (n = 1,440) screened by FHW and dental professionals, respectively. The authors compared the screening efficacy in both groups, with specialist diagnosis considered the reference standard. The outcomes measured were lesion detection and capture of interpretable images of the oral cavity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the targeted cohort, among 51 of 81 (61%) interpretable images, 23 of 51 (45%) of the lesions were confirmed by specialists, while the opportunistic cohort showed 100% concordance with the specialists (106 of 106). Sixty-two of 129 (48%) of the recommended patients underwent biopsy; 1 of 23 (4%) were in the targeted cohort, and 61 of 106 (57%) were in the opportunistic cohort. Ninety percent of the lesions were confirmed to be malignant or potentially malignant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The mobile health-based approach adopted in this study aided remote early detection of oral cancer by primary care dental practitioners in a resource-constrained setting. Further optimization of this program is required to adopt the system for FHW. Evaluation of its efficacy in a larger population is also warranted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The increased efficiency of early detection by dentists, when assisted by a remote mobile health-based approach, is a step toward a more effective oral cancer screening program.
authors.forename: Praveen N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Birur
authors.forename: Sumsum P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sunny
authors.forename: Sidhant
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jena
authors.forename: Uma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kandasarma
authors.forename: Shubhasini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raghavan
authors.forename: Bhanushree
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ramaswamy
authors.forename: Sunitha Perumal
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Shanmugam
authors.forename: Sanjana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.forename: Rohan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuriakose
authors.forename: Janhavi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mallaiah
authors.forename: Amritha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suresh
authors.forename: Radhika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chigurupati
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Moni Abraham
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kuriakose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040421:Cell Phone; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063731:Mobile Applications; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Oral cancer; early detection; health workers; mobile health; primary care dentist; remote assistance; screening