Effects of Telephone Intervention and Nudging Information on Cancer Screening Behavior

November 3, 2026 updated by: Chiayi Christian Hospital

Effects of Telephone Intervention and Nudging Information on Cancer Screening Behavior: A Randomized Clinical Study

Objectives: Telephone interventions are often delivered to promote cancer screening for early detection and treatment. However, the effects of nudging information provided in telephone interventions on cancer screening behavior remain unclear. Accordingly, this study investigated the effects of telephone-delivered nudging information regarding screening benefits and social norms on cancer screening behavior.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial included 1,200 community-dwelling individuals meeting screening criteria for colorectal, breast, cervical, or oral cancer. Participants were assigned to one of four groups: telephone benefits, telephone social norms, telephone reminder, and letter reminder. The dependent variable was cancer screening behavior within 6 months after the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
1200

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Tainan, Taiwan, 701
        • National Cheng Kung University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

30 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Community-dwelling individuals who met the criteria for cancer screening outlined by the Health Promotion Administration under Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare were recruited. Participants were required to have sufficient communication ability and the ability to receive a telephone interview.
  • colorectal cancer: people aged 50 to 74 years who have not received a fecal occult blood test within the past 2 years;
  • breast cancer: women aged 45 to 69 years or those aged 40 to 44 years with a family history of breast cancer who have not received a mammography within the previous 2 years;
  • cervical cancer: women aged over 30 years who have not received a pap smear test within the past 3 years; and
  • oral cancer: the general people aged over 30 years or indigenous residents of Taiwan aged over 18 years with a history of chewing betel nut or smoking who have not received an oral mucosal examination within the past 2 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • This study did not consider individuals with severe cognitive impairment or a previous cancer diagnosis, as indicated by chart records.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: telephone benefits group
Behavioral: telephone benefits group

In the intervention, participants were provided with three categories of information: (1) the reasons why they were receiving the information (delivered by telephone or letter), that is, information regarding the criteria they met, such as their age or lack of screening history within a certain time period; (2) reasons why they should undergo screening, including nudging information related to benefits or social norms; and (3) a description of how they could make cancer screening appointments.

In the telephone benefits group, key information regarding the benefits of cancer screening was provided with consideration of the health belief model (Lau et al., 2020).
Experimental: telephone social norms group
Behavioral: telephone social norms group

In the intervention, participants were provided with three categories of information: (1) the reasons why they were receiving the information (delivered by telephone or letter), that is, information regarding the criteria they met, such as their age or lack of screening history within a certain time period; (2) reasons why they should undergo screening, including nudging information related to benefits or social norms; and (3) a description of how they could make cancer screening appointments.

In the telephone social norms group, the following were provided with consideration of the theory of planned behavior (Ritchie et al., 2021).
Active Comparator: telephone reminder group
Behavioral: telephone reminder group

In the intervention, participants were provided with three categories of information: (1) the reasons why they were receiving the information (delivered by telephone or letter), that is, information regarding the criteria they met, such as their age or lack of screening history within a certain time period; (2) reasons why they should undergo screening, including nudging information related to benefits or social norms; and (3) a description of how they could make cancer screening appointments. The telephone reminder group only received the first and third types of information.
Active Comparator: letter reminder group
Behavioral: letter reminder group

In the intervention, participants were provided with three categories of information: (1) the reasons why they were receiving the information (delivered by telephone or letter), that is, information regarding the criteria they met, such as their age or lack of screening history within a certain time period; (2) reasons why they should undergo screening, including nudging information related to benefits or social norms; and (3) a description of how they could make cancer screening appointments. The letter reminder group only received the first and third types of information.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cancer behavior
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 months.

The primary outcome is whether the participants completed cancer screening or not (yes or no)
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Chiayi Christian Hospital

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 16, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IRB2021031

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings