Behavioral Nudge in Colorectal Cancer Screening

Role of Behavioral Nudge as a Tool to Increase CRC Screening at an Urban Center Outpatient Clinic

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if a behavioral nudge principle known as social norm driver can be implemented to improve fecal immunochemical test (FIT) completion rates for patients' age 45-75 years old due for colorectal cancer screening at Bellevue Hospital Medicine Ambulatory Care Clinic. The study's endpoints include FIT screening completion rate and timeliness. Secondary analysis will look at demographic information such as age group, gender, prior screening, number of prior visits at the clinic.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Improving Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) Completion Rates
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Information pamphlet; Behavioral: Information pamphlet + social norm driver

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • NYU Langone Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Time Period 1 Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patient at Bellevue Ambulatory Care Medicine Clinic between 1/1/2024 and 7/1/2024
2. Age 45-75 years old

Time Period 2 Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patient at Bellevue Ambulatory Care Resident Clinic
2. Age 45-75 years old
3. Has not had a FIT test within the past year
4. Can read either English or Spanish
5. Is able and willing to provide consent

Time Period 3 Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patient at Bellevue Ambulatory Care Resident Clinic
2. Age 45-75 years old
3. Has not had a FIT test completed within the past year
4. Can read either English or Spanish
5. Is able and willing to provide consent

Time Period 1 Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patient at a clinic that is not Bellevue Ambulatory Care Resident Clinic
2. Age outside of 45-75 years old

Time Period 2 Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patient at a clinic that is not Bellevue Ambulatory Care Resident Clinic
2. Age outside of 45-75 years old
3. Has had a FIT test completed within the past year
4. Cannot read either English or Spanish

Time Period 3 Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patient at a clinic that is not Bellevue Ambulatory Care Resident Clinic
2. Age outside of 45-75 years old
3. Has had a FIT test completed within the past year
4. Cannot read either English or Spanish

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Time Period 1; A FIT test is ordered by the provider and a patient care assistant (PCA) gives patient a FIT kit, which includes a specimen cup and instructions on how to use it, at the end of the visit prior to their departure.
Experimental: Time Period 2; A new information pamphlet is given to participants alongside the FIT kit at the end of the visit. The pamphlet contains an easy-to-read description of FIT screening adapted from the NYC department of health C5 Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening coalition pamphlet and lead-time CRC screening messaging tool, instructions on how to complete the test and the importance of FIT screening.	Behavioral: Information pamphlet; The information pamphlet is given to participants at the end of the visit. The pamphlet contains an easy-to-read description of FIT screening adapted from the NYC department of health C5 CRC screening coalition pamphlet and lead-time CRC screening messaging tool, instructions on how to complete the test and the importance of FIT screening.
Experimental: Time Period 3; A new information pamphlet is given to participants along the FIT kit similar to "Time period 2", but includes a social norm driver in the pamphlet that displays the sub-par screening rate of our clinic compared to a collective New York State screening rate and a national screening rate goal set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).	Behavioral: Information pamphlet + social norm driver; The information pamphlet is given to participants at the end of the visit. The pamphlet contains an easy-to-read description of FIT screening adapted from the NYC department of health C5 Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening coalition pamphlet and lead-time CRC screening messaging tool, instructions on how to complete the test and the importance of FIT screening. The information pamphlet will also contain a social norm driver that displays the sub-par screening rate the clinic compared to a collective New York State screening rate and a national screening rate goal set by the CDC.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Time until the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is returned to the clinic for processing	Study participants will be tracked for completion of their FIT screening test up until 3 months after the initial stool study was given.	Month 3
Percentage of participants who completed the FIT screening test	Study participants will be tracked for completion of their FIT screening test up until 3 months after the initial stool study was given.	Month 3

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Investigators: Study Director: Aasma Shaukat, MD, NYU Langone Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 22, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): January 28, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 25, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 24-00165

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 other researchers. Access to this aggregated study database will be limited to HIPAA certified investigators who have been IRB-approved for participation in this study.

Drug and device information, study documents

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