Social Media for Colorectal Cancer Screening

Utilizing Social Media for Colorectal Cancer Screening: an Innovative Randomized Controlled Trial

Using social media for health promotion is an innovative and emerging approach but remains relatively unexplored in cancer screening. Uptake of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening remains low and standard methods of reaching out are expensive with limited impact. The objective of this study is to conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of social media messages for CRC screening on screening intention (primary outcome). The results of this trial will be of interest to Ontario Health and are likely to be taken up by other screening programs looking for innovative and novel ways to increase screening participation. The study results will be easily translatable identifying the most compelling CRC screening messages while the approach can easily be translated to other cancer disease sites with screening programs.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Colorectal Cancer; Cancer Screening
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Social media message #1; Other: Social media message #2; Other: Social media message #3; Other: Social Media Message #4; Other: Tailored Social Media Message

Detailed Description

The investigators will conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Facebook users (aged 50+) in Ontario. Randomization will be done at the level of the forward sortation area (FSA) - the first three characters of the postal code. All FSAs in Ontario will be randomized to one of six study arms - users assigned to each arm will receive one of the social media messages or no message (control). If users click on the message, a webpage with further information on screening will appear and participants will be asked to indicate intention to get screened for CRC. The primary outcome will be intention to screen and secondary outcomes will include other engagement metrics such as reach, cost-per-click, click-through rates, number of likes, number of impressions, and post comments.

This study will inform the feasibility of using social media for CRC screening and identify the most compelling CRC screening messages for the screen-eligible population.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 56000
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
      • Unity Health Toronto

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years and older (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Facebook users in Ontario who are between 55-64 years of age

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Message #2; This arm will receive the second social media message that is preferred by our target population as identified from our previous focus group study.	Other: Social media message #2; A different social media message promoting colorectal cancer screening
Active Comparator: Message #3; This arm will receive the third social media message that is preferred by our target population as identified from our previous focus group study.	Other: Social media message #3; A different social media message promoting colorectal cancer screening
Active Comparator: Message #1; This arm will receive one of five social media messages that is preferred by our target population through focus groups that are being conducted as part of a previous study.	Other: Social media message #1; Social media message promoting colorectal cancer screening
Active Comparator: Arm #4; This arm will receive the fourth social media message that is preferred by our target population as identified from our previous focus group study.	Other: Social Media Message #4; A different social media message promoting colorectal cancer screening.
Active Comparator: Tailored Arm; This arm will receive social media messages that will be tailored by sex.	Other: Tailored Social Media Message; Tailored social media messages promoting colorectal cancer screening.
No Intervention: Control Arm; This arm will not receive any intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Screening intention	The proportion of individuals in each arm that click on the ad and confirm their intention to get screened for CRC	From date of randomization to end of data collection (1 month)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cost-per-click	The average cost per link click calculated as the total amount spent on the ad campaign divided by total number of link clicks	From date of randomization to end of data collection (1 month)
Click-through-rate	Percentage of times that individuals saw the ads and performed a click	From date of randomization to the end of data collection (1 month)
Number of likes	Total number of Facebook likes for each ad	At the end of the study period at 1 month
Number of impressions	Number of times that each ad was on screen	At the end of the study period at 1 month
Post comments	Number of comments on each ad	At the end of the study period at 1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Unity Health Toronto
• Collaborators: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nancy N. Baxter, MD, FRCSC, FACS, PhD, Unity Health Toronto

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 25, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 29, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 3, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): March 5, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 4, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 31, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Social media; Ad campaigns
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Intestinal Diseases; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Colorectal Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20-005

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data will not be available to share because the study results will not be at the individual-level and therefore this is not applicable.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No