effectiveness of a mobile app (hhoung pha-tum) on breast health literacy among at-risk women in rural community in southern thailand

Background: mobile applications provide an accessible platform for health interventions, improving knowledge and awareness of early breast cancer (bc) detection. this study evaluated the effectiveness of a bc education and prevention app in enhancing health literacy (hl), confidence in self-examination, and preventive practices among women in southern thailand. methods: a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design was conducted among 90 randomly assigned women in a rural thai community from may 14 to august 6, 2022. baseline data on participants' general information and bc hl were collected. the content validity of hl and prevention practice questionnaires ranged from 0.7 to 1.0, with reliability scores of 0.89 and 0.74, respectively. the intervention group accessed hhoung pha-tum, an app featuring bc education, self-assessment tools, educational videos, and healthcare resources. a post-test was conducted three months later. independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze changes in hl and preventive practices within and between groups. results: baseline hl scores showed no significant difference between the control (84.47±2.69) and intervention (86.73±1.63) groups (p=0.47). however, post-test scores significantly improved, with the intervention group scoring 95.98±1.19 compared to 88.38±2.47 in the control group (p<0.01). conclusion: the app effectively enhanced hl and engagement in bc prevention. accordingly, healthcare providers should promote hhoung pha-tum among at-risk women to increase knowledge and awareness, thus supporting early detection efforts at the primary healthcare level.