Digital Health Innovations in Community-Based Cancer Screening for Enhancing Early Detection: Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37287/ijghr.v8i5.2848Keywords:
breast cancer, community health worker, digital health, early detection, health literacy, mobile healthAbstract
Non-communicable diseases, particularly cancer, represent a critical global public health challenge requiring effective secondary prevention. Although early screening can reduce cancer-related mortality, community-level participation remains limited by inadequate health literacy, embarrassment, social stigma, and unequal access to healthcare. Digital health innovations offer scalable opportunities to support risk assessment, promote screening participation, and facilitate early detection. This literature review aimed to systematically analyze digital health innovations in community-based cancer screening and inform the Define stage of a research and development framework. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Indonesian institutional repositories for publications and policy documents from 2018 to September 2026. The search used English and Indonesian keywords, including digital health, mHealth, mobile application, web application, cancer screening, early detection, risk assessment, community-based care, lay public, primary healthcare, health cadres, and referral networks. The search identified 850 records. After removing 208 duplicates, 642 records underwent title and abstract screening, and 45 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Ultimately, 14 articles were included in the qualitative synthesis. Using a qualitative categorization approach informed by Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, the findings were organized into four domains: digital technology features, public health literacy, community health worker empowerment, and primary care referral integration. The reviewed evidence indicated improvements in cancer screening participation, with reported increases of 20.9%-37.7% and a pooled odds ratio (OR) of 1.49, while self-sampling compliance increased by 1.5- to 2.5-fold. Digital applications also supported community health workers in data collection, data synchronization, and patient navigation. Digital health innovations may strengthen community-based cancer screening and referral continuity when integrated with primary healthcare services. Future development should prioritize user-centered design, offline functionality, electronic health record interoperability, and sociocultural adaptation to promote equitable access to preventive care.
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