Impact of Smoking Information on Concerns About Radon

Despite a push for tailored messages, health communications are often aimed at, and viewed by, people with varying levels of risk. This project examined-in the context of radon risk messages-whether information relevant to high-risk individuals can have an unintended influence on lower-risk individuals. Specifically, the investigators assessed whether information about lung-cancer risk from smoking reduced concerns about lung-cancer risk from radon among nonsmokers. The investigators hypothesized that non-smokers who read a message that included smoking-relevant information would express less concern about the effects of radon exposure and less interest in testing their home compared to those who read a version in which smoking-relevant information was excluded. Two studies were conducted. Although the investigators did not exclude smokers, the focus was on participants self-identifying as nonsmokers (including never smokers and former smokers).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Smoking; Lung Neoplasms; Risk Reduction Behavior; Intention; Radon Exposure
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Radon & Smoking Synergistic; Behavioral: EPA; Behavioral: Idaho; Behavioral: Radon Only; Behavioral: Radon and Smoking Isolated

Detailed Description

Despite a push for tailored messages, health communications are often aimed at, and viewed by, people with varying levels of risk. This project examined-in the context of radon risk messages-whether information relevant to high-risk individuals can have an unintended influence on lower-risk individuals. Specifically, the investigators assessed whether information about lung-cancer risk from smoking reduced concerns about lung-cancer risk from radon among nonsmokers. The investigators hypothesized that non-smokers who read a message that included smoking-relevant information would express less concern about the effects of radon exposure and less interest in testing their home compared to those who read a version in which smoking-relevant information was excluded. Two studies were conducted. Although the investigators did not exclude smokers, the focus was on participants self-identifying as nonsmokers (including never smokers and former smokers). Participants in both studies were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants viewed radon messages that varied in the information they communicated about smoking's effect on lung cancer. In Study 1, smoking information was included or excluded from messages assembled from existing radon pamphlets. In Study 2, versions of a new radon message either excluded smoking information, described smoking as a major cause of lung cancer, or also described smoking's synergistic effect with radon on lung cancer risk. After viewing a radon health message, participants completed a variety of measures. Primary measures assessed respondents' anticipated sense of concern and related reactions if they learned that they/their home had been exposed to elevated levels of radon. Other key measures included questions about participants' interest and intention to test their home for radon.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1390
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Live within the US
• Have an Amazon Mechanical Turk account (website where online study was posted)

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

7

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Study 1: Radon&Smoking Synergistic/EPA; Participants viewed radon and smoking risk information taken from the EPA's pamphlet on the dangers of radon gas exposure.	Behavioral: Radon & Smoking Synergistic; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from exposure to radon gas, smoking, and their synergistic effects. This intervention represents the type of information most commonly presented in radon risk communications.; Behavioral: EPA; Health information modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) pamphlet on radon risk.
Active Comparator: Study 1: Radon&Smoking Synergistic/Idaho; Participants viewed radon and smoking risk information taken from Idaho's Department of Health and Human Welfare's pamphlet on the dangers of radon gas exposure.	Behavioral: Radon & Smoking Synergistic; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from exposure to radon gas, smoking, and their synergistic effects. This intervention represents the type of information most commonly presented in radon risk communications.; Behavioral: Idaho; Health information modeled after the Idaho Department of Health and Human Welfare's pamphlet on radon risk.
Experimental: Study 1: Radon Only / EPA; Participants viewed only radon risk information taken from the EPA's pamphlet on the dangers of radon gas exposure.	Behavioral: EPA; Health information modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) pamphlet on radon risk.; Behavioral: Radon Only; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from radon exposure. No information about the risks for developing lung cancer associated with smoking or its synergistic effect with radon exposure are included.
Experimental: Study 1: Radon Only / Idaho; Participants viewed only radon risk information taken from Idaho's Department of Health and Human Welfare's pamphlet on the dangers of radon gas exposure.	Behavioral: Idaho; Health information modeled after the Idaho Department of Health and Human Welfare's pamphlet on radon risk.; Behavioral: Radon Only; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from radon exposure. No information about the risks for developing lung cancer associated with smoking or its synergistic effect with radon exposure are included.
Experimental: Study 2: Radon Only; Participants viewed a radon-only message that focused only on the effect of radon on lung-cancer risk.	Behavioral: Radon Only; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from radon exposure. No information about the risks for developing lung cancer associated with smoking or its synergistic effect with radon exposure are included.
Other: Study 2: Radon and Smoking Isolated; Participants viewed a radon-and-smoking-isolated message that covered the individual effects of radon and of smoking on lung cancer, but without mentioning their synergistic effect.	Behavioral: Radon and Smoking Isolated; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from radon exposure and smoking. No information describing the synergistic effects of smoking and radon exposure on lung cancer risk are included.
Active Comparator: Study 2: Radon & Smoking Synergistic; Participants viewed a radon-and-smoking-synergistic message that covered the individual effects of radon and of smoking but that also included information about their synergistic effect.	Behavioral: Radon & Smoking Synergistic; Participants viewed health information detailing the risks of developing lung cancer from exposure to radon gas, smoking, and their synergistic effects. This intervention represents the type of information most commonly presented in radon risk communications.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Conditional Concern Composite	Composite formed from 4 conditional questions assessing concern, perceived impact on risk and comparative risk, and threat--if exposed to radon	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 1 minute)
Interest in Testing Composite	Composite formed from 2 questions assessing importance and intention to test home for radon	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 2 minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Worry Elicited by Health Message	Single question assessing worry elicited by the health communication material	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 2 minutes)
Likelihood Judgments about Lung Cancer	Three items assessing perceived likelihood of developing lung cancer	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 4 minutes)
Elect to Leave Email for Raffle	Participants given option to leave email address in case they won one of the 20 radon kits being raffled (Study 2).	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 4 minutes)
Elect to Read More	Participants given option to be presented with more information at the end of the session about testing for radon (Study 2).	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 4 minutes)
Concern about Loved Ones If Exposed to Radon	Rated how concerned they would be about loved ones if they learned their home had high radon (Study 2)	Immediately post-intervention (approx. 4 minutes)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Paul Windschitl

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 7, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 22, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): April 22, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 30, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 13, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): April 17, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 19, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2019
• Last Verified: April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Risk Perception
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Neoplasms; Lung Diseases; Neoplasms by Site; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: 201507727

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data and guide will be made available to other investigators upon request.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Requested data will be made available upon publication of the project.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Please contact corresponding author Dr. Paul Windschitl at paul-windschitl@uiowa.edu
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No