Animated Storytelling to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening

April 3, 2026 updated by: Maya Adam, Stanford University

Using Short Animated Storytelling to Increase Intent for Colorectal Cancer Screening: A U.S. Online Randomized Controlled Trial

This online randomized controlled trial will evaluate whether a short animated storytelling video increases behavioral expectation to obtain colorectal cancer screening among screening-eligible U.S. adults who report not yet having completed screening. Participants will be recruited via Prolific and randomized in Stanford Qualtrics to view either a brief animated video or a time-neutral informational text. Outcomes will be assessed immediately after exposure.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

3000

Phase

  • 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

  • United States
    • California
      • Stanford, California, United States, 94305
        • Stanford 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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Resides in the United States
  • Able to read and understand English
  • Self-reports not having completed colorectal cancer screening
  • Provides electronic informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior diagnosis of colorectal cancer
  • Self-reported completion of colorectal cancer screening

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Animated Storytelling Video
Participants view a brief animated storytelling video about colorectal cancer screening and colonoscopy.
Behavioral: Short animated storytelling video
A brief animated storytelling video about colorectal cancer screening and colonoscopy.
Active Comparator: Informational Control
Participants read a brief time-neutral informational text about colorectal cancer screening.
Behavioral: Informational Text
A brief time-neutral informational text about colorectal cancer screening.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in behavioral expectation (simple and next-step) to obtain colorectal cancer screening, as measured by a 7-item visual analogue scale.
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention exposure (up to 24 hours)
Participant self-reports their likelihood of discussing, scheduling, or obtaining colorectal cancer screening after exposure to assigned study material. Total scores range from 0-70 with higher scores indicating greater behavioral expectation (Item 7 is reverse scored).
Baseline, immediately post-intervention exposure (up to 24 hours)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in knowledge about colorectal cancer screening and colonoscopy, as measured by a 5-item knowledge questionnaire.
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention exposure (up to 24 hours)
Self-reported knowledge regarding colorectal cancer screening and the preventive role of colonoscopy, including detection and removal of pre-cancerous polyps. Response options are true/false/not sure, with 1 point per correct answer and 0 points for incorrect or "not sure". Total scores range from 0-5, with higher scores indicating higher knowledge.
Baseline, immediately post-intervention exposure (up to 24 hours)
Change from baseline in perceptions and beliefs about colonoscopy, as measured by a 13-item scale.
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention exposure (up to 24 hours)
Self-reported perceptions an beliefs about colonoscopy include perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits and perceived barriers. Responses will be compared on a Likert scale that ranges from 1-5 (Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neither / Agree / Strongly agree), where higher scores indicate more positive perceptions and beliefs, with the perceived barriers section reverse scored.
Baseline, immediately post-intervention exposure (up to 24 hours)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Stanford University

Collaborators

Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Germany

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Maya Adam, MD, PhD, Stanford University

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 85776

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.

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