Web app for empowering men to undergo evidence-based screening

ScreenMen is a mobile web app that educates, motivates and empowers men to undergo evidence-based health screening. It was developed rigorously based on theories, evidence and needs assessment. It is currently undergoing a randomised controlled trial to determine its effectiveness in improving screening uptake in men.

As part of the effort to improve men's health, researchers from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, developed ScreenMen, a mobile web app which aims to educate men about their health risks, motivate them to stay healthy and empower them to undergo evidence-based health screening.

ScreenMen was developed based on theories, evidence and needs of men. The researchers interviewed 31 men in the community to find out the challenges men face when undergoing health screening and to ask them for suggestions on an ideal screening web app. The content of ScreenMen was based on local and international clinical practice guidelines on screening. The development of ScreenMen followed a user-centered and iterative approach, where the prototypes were tested for its utility and usability with experts from various backgrounds and men from the community.

ScreenMen is probably the first mobile web app in the world to provide comprehensive and evidence-based health screening for men. It covers comprehensive range of evidence-based screenings including lifestyle risk factors, cardiovascular disease, cancers, infectious diseases and mental health. ScreenMen uses a self-driven algorithm to assesses users' health and provides personalised advice to them based on their own health risks, which mimicks an actual consultation with a doctor.

ScreenMen also contains a bite-size educational video that addresses misconceptions about health screening; it also includes a list of frequently asked questions to address men's concerns about undergoing health screening. Another unique feature of ScreenMen is that it empowers men to avoid unnecessary health screening such as cancer biomarkers and imaging to help combat low-value health service, which is widely practiced in the community.

Currently, ScreenMen is being evaluated in a randomised controlled trial to determine its effectiveness in improving health screening uptake in men. Once the evaluation is completed, we hope to work with the Ministry of Health to implement ScreenMen in the public health clinics to reach out to men who attend the clinics. We also intend to disseminate ScreenMen to men through social media, doctors' recommendation and integrating it into workplace.