Interventions to Decrease Health Information Avoidance

Interventions to Decrease Cancer Information Avoidance

Health information avoidance is an overlooked threat to the reach and effectiveness of health communication. To fully realize the benefits of our sizeable investments in health messaging, it is necessary to identify strategies for reducing health information avoidance. The researchers will test a video-based strategy for promoting colorectal cancer screening designed to reduce defensive colorectal cancer information avoidance and increase message reach by increasing engagement among those who would otherwise avoid the message. The researchers will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the effects of the intervention video to an attentional control video on colorectal cancer screening intentions and uptake.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Health Information Avoidance
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Video to promote colonoscopy; Other: Video to promote screening for colorectal cancer with home tests

Detailed Description

The study will test the efficacy and mediating mechanisms of brief video interventions including elements demonstrated to be effective in reducing health information avoidance (self-efficacy boosting, humor, calm affect induction). It is expected that the videos to benefit people who typically avoid health information yet still be beneficial for people who do not avoid health information, thus being suitable for dissemination to general audiences. It is hypothesized that the interventions will strengthen intentions to be screened, increase colorectal cancer risk information seeking and increase screening.

Following recommended practices, the two intervention arms and the control arm will include multiple versions of the videos to control for actor effects. All intervention videos operationalize the same psychological mechanisms but are delivered by 4 different actors and promote either colonoscopy or stool tests. The 8 parallel intervention and 4 control videos will be treated as random effects.

The intervention videos will be tested in members of the Ipsos panel who are not adherent to colorectal cancer screening guidelines, half of whom will be selected because they tend to avoid colorectal cancer information. Effects of the intervention videos will be compared to those of an attentional control video about food safety.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1500
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Buffalo, New York, United States, 14222
      • University at Buffalo

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• between the ages of 45 and 75 years
• never diagnosed with colorectal cancer
• non-adherent to colorectal cancer screening guidelines
• half will have a score at or greater than the mid-point on the colorectal cancer information avoidance scale (≥2.5) on the pre-screening survey such that half of the sample are people who tend to avoid colorectal cancer information

Exclusion Criteria:

• not between the ages of 45 and 75 years
• have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer
• adherent to colorectal cancer screening guidelines

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Video to promote colonoscopy; Participants will view a brief video promoting colonoscopy with self-efficacy enhancement, humor and calm affect induction	Other: Video to promote colonoscopy; This video contains elements designed to engage and persuade people who tend to avoid colorectal cancer information to have a colonoscopy. Psychological elements include self-efficacy boosting, humor, and calming affect induction.
Experimental: Video to promote screening for colorectal cancer with home tests; Participants will view a brief video promoting colorectal cancer home testing with self-efficacy enhancement, humor and calm affect induction	Other: Video to promote screening for colorectal cancer with home tests; This video contains elements designed to engage and persuade people who tend to avoid colorectal cancer information to screen for colorectal cancer with a home test. Psychological elements include self-efficacy boosting, humor, and calming affect induction.
No Intervention: Attentional control video; The attentional control video will be about food safety and will be the same length and include the same actors and music.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Strength of screening intentions	Participants will rate their intention to be screened with the item, "I intend to get checked for colon cancer within the next 6 months" on a scale from 1 to 4 with 4 being stronger intentions.	Day 1
Strength of intentions to talk to a health care provider about being screened for colorectal cancer	This outcome will be assessed with the item, "I will talk to a health care provider about getting checked for colon cancer within the next 6 months".	Day 1
Proportion of participants who seek personal risk information	Participants will be asked whether they want to be redirected at the end of the study to complete the online Siteman Cancer Center colorectal cancer risk calculator.	Day 1
Proportion of participants screened for colorectal cancer after 9 months	The researchers will assess whether participants have been screened for colorectal cancer in the 9 months since participating in the intervention phase of the study.	At least 9 months after start of study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self-efficacy for colorectal cancer screening	Sel-efficacy will be assessed with 2 items with which participants rate their confidence in arranging to get screened and completing a screening test on a scale ranging from 0 to 10, with 10 indicating greater self-efficacy.	Day 1
Positive and negative affect	Positive and negative affect will be assessed with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Short Form (PANAS-SF). Scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more of a given affect.	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: State University of New York at Buffalo
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Heather Orom Associate Professor, PhD, University at Buffalo

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 10, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 3, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 12, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): May 15, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: RCT; video; colorectal cancer screening; information avoidance; screening intentions
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00009059; R01CA276430 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: All non-identifying study data will be shared.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: IPD will be available once results are published. There will be no end date.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Anyone will be able to access the IDP through OSF.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; 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