Background In Myanmar, the use of a mobile app for tuberculosis (TB) screening and its operational effect on seeking TB health care have not been evaluated yet. Objective This study aims to report the usability of a simple mobile app to screen TB and comply with chest X-ray (CXR) examination of presumptive cases detected by the app. Methods A new “TB-screen” app was developed from a Google Sheet based on a previously published algorithm. The app calculates a TB risk propensity score from an individual’s sociodemographic characteristics and TB clinical history and suggests whether the individual should undergo a CXR. The screening program was launched in urban slum areas soon after the COVID-19 outbreak subsided. A standard questionnaire was used to assess the app’s usability rated by presumptive cases. Compliance to undergo CXR was confirmed by scanning the referral quick response (QR) code via the app. Results Raters were 453 presumptive cases detected by the app. The mean usability rating score was 4.1 out of 5. Compliance to undergo CXR examination was 71.1% (n=322). Active TB case detection among CXR compliances was 7.5% (n=24). One standard deviation (SD) increase in the app usability score was significantly associated with a 59% increase in the odds to comply with CXR (β=.464) after adjusting for other variables (P<.001). Conclusions This simple mobile app got a high usability score rated by 453 users. The mobile app usability score successfully predicted compliance to undergo CXR examination. Eventually, 24 (7.5%) of 322 users who were suspected of having TB by the mobile app were detected as active TB cases by CXR. The system should be upscaled for a large trial.

BACKGROUND In Myanmar, using a mobile application (app) for tuberculosis (TB) screening and its operational effect on seeking TB health care has not been evaluated yet. OBJECTIVE This project aims to report the usability of a simple mobile app to screen TB and comply with chest x-ray (CXR) examination among presumptive cases detected the app. This project aims to report the usability of a simple mobile app to screen TB and comply with chest x-ray (CXR) examination among presumptive cases detected the app. METHODS A new “TB-screen” app was developed from a Google Sheet based on a previously published algorithm. The app calculates a propensity TB risk score from an individual’s socio-demographic characteristics and TB clinical history and suggests whether the individual should have a CXR. The screening program was launched in urban slum areas soon after the covid-19 outbreak subsided. A standard questionnaire was used to assess the app’s usability rated by presumptive cases. Compliance to perform CXR was confirmed by scanning the referral QR code via the app. RESULTS Raters were 453 presumptive cases detected by the app. Mean usability rating score was 4.1 out of 5. Compliance to have a CXR examination was 71.1%. One standard deviation increase in the app usability score was significantly associated with a 59% increase in odds to comply with CXR (β=.464) after adjusting for other variables (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Our findings revealed high usability of the app and compliance to perform CXR among the presumptive TB cases. However, further study should confirm the results when covid-19 pandemic is no more perceived as a serious threat.