| dc.description.abstract | In Sub-Saharan Africa (SAA) prostate cancer mortality is projected to double by the year 2040.
Prostate cancer is the 4th cause of death after breast, cervical, and oesophageal cancer
respectively with an estimated incidence of 3,412 (8.1%) and a mortality of 1,780 (6.6%) in
Kenya. Despite cancer data being a fundamental component of a functional and objective
cancer control approach, cancer registration and surveillance in Kenya currently cover an
estimated 10% of the population. Most of the developing countries are grappling with
insufficient or lack of government resources allocated to strengthen cancer registration. This
poses a major impediment to cancer management and control due to the lack of reliable timely
data for decision making. The study was conducted in Embu County, which does not form part
of the areas covered by the three population-based cancer registries in Kenya. Hence ideal for
illustration of innovative approaches to bridge the population-based prostate cancer data gaps.
The research thesis aim was to demonstrate the use of a mHealth digital platform prototype in
the collection of primary data for prostate cancer control and surveillance. Specifically, the
study wanted to determine the data set required for cancer surveillance and decision-making,
assess challenges faced in accessing prostate cancer data, and illustrate the use of the mHealth
digital platform in real-time primary data collection. The study adopted a descriptive cross-
sectional study design, utilizing a design science research (DSR) strategy. The target
population was healthcare workers, including community health volunteers in Embu County
due to their role in data collection and management. The purposive sampling technique was
used to identify participants in different phases of the study, a total of (71) respondents for the
inspiration Phase, (15) respondents for the ideation phase, and critical case sampling was used
to identify (34) community health volunteers (CHVs) from different community health units.
Surveys with structured questionnaires were used in data collection, with a response rate of
80.3%. The data collected from this research was subjected to quantitative-descriptive analysis.
The questionnaire findings guided the requirement definition, design, and development of the
prototype which was tested by the end users. The research established that the existing
integrated disease surveillance and response system majorly covers communicable diseases. A
gap was also identified in prostate primary data collection from the community. The study
found that community reporting was mainly paper-based. Generally, cancer registration is at a
rudimental stage majorly focusing on hospital-based data. The adaptability and scalability of
the mHealth digital platform in a resource-constrained setup, in addition to real-time access to
data was demonstrated through tests and implementation of the prototype application in the
community. Finally, the research recommends the expansion of the existing disease
surveillance system to include cancer surveillance. | en_US |
