Desenvolvimento e validação de aplicativo móvel para auxiliar profissionais de saúde da atenção primária na prevenção do câncer de mama

Abstract

In the context of breast cancer (BC), the prevention actions held by health professionals (HP) are important to reduce morbidity and mortality; however, we can observe gaps in knowledge, attitudes and practices, thus requiring the development of educational technologies addressing the topic. In order to describe the process of development and validation of a mobile application (APP) on BC prevention through User-centered design (UCD), aimed at primary care HP. A methodological study was performed, based on the UCD method, organized in phases: focus on users and their tasks and usability measurement. In the first phase, we sought to identify the knowledge of HP related to the BC prevention, through an integrative literature review and a survey with a target audience to define the content of the APP. The development team was made up of two HP, two developers and one designer, adopting the agile scrum methodology, optimizing time and facilitating communication among team members. In the second phase, content and appearance validation was carried out with 25 judges, and design and usability evaluation with six computer experts. The interface project created in Figma to simulate the APP was evaluated by the target audience using the “Wizard of Oz” technique with six HP, with suggestions being accepted when pertinent. The adjustments were made, images and logo created, the color palette and fonts defined, and the APP code written in Expo. The content was based on evidence from the National Cancer Institute and the Brazilian Society of Mastology. The MAMAprev APP was developed in native language (Brazilian Portuguese), with approximately 7,500 lines of code and 34 images, containing initial screen of professional category, alert message for self-care, and main menu with buttons for the following screens: “about the application”, “useful tools” and “about breast cancer prevention”. The purpose of the APP is to support HP with content on the topic, which can have a positive impact on attitudes and practices, thus strengthening the BC prevention actions in a timely manner. In the content and appearance validation, the content validity index was 94.80%, showing high agreement among judges. In the design and usability evaluation, some problems were detected and adjusted. Besides the evaluation, the judges made comments and/or suggestions that were considered in the APP adjustments, which will later be made available on digital platforms. The study has medium innovative content and high complexity, as it combines pre-existing knowledge, associated with different knowledge and interaction related to the topic, through an easily accessible digital tool; it has good repeatability in local, regional and national contexts, considering the possibility of dissemination with free access to digital platforms; it has an important impact on the education of HC and, consequently, on people’s health, as it will contribute to the knowledge that can be reflected in more effective and quality BC prevention attitudes and practices.