Instagram and Podcast Intervention for Breast Cancer Awareness and Screening

June 23, 2026 updated by: Baise Bicav, Ankara University

The Effect of an Instagram- and Podcast-Based Intervention on Women's Breast Cancer Awareness, Health Beliefs, and Screening Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effect of an Instagram- and podcast-based intervention on women's breast cancer awareness, health beliefs, and breast cancer screening behaviors among women aged 20-39 years.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women worldwide and remains a major public health concern. Early detection through screening is essential for reducing breast cancer-related morbidity and mortality. However, many women continue to experience barriers to screening participation, including limited awareness, insufficient knowledge, low perceived susceptibility, fear of diagnosis, and inadequate health beliefs regarding breast cancer and its screening methods.

Digital health interventions have emerged as accessible and cost-effective approaches for delivering health education and promoting preventive health behaviors. Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, are widely used by young women and offer an effective channel for disseminating health-related information. Podcasts provide an additional narrative-based educational approach that may enhance engagement, improve information retention, and support behavior change through emotionally meaningful content.

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an Instagram- and podcast-based intervention in improving breast cancer awareness, health beliefs, and screening behaviors among women aged 20-39 years. Participants in the intervention group will receive evidence-based educational content through Instagram posts and podcasts, while the control group will receive no intervention during the study period. Outcomes will include breast cancer awareness, health beliefs related to breast cancer screening, and screening behaviors such as breast self-examination practices.

The findings of this study are expected to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of combined social media and podcast-based interventions as scalable, low-cost strategies for promoting breast cancer awareness and encouraging preventive screening behaviors among women.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

180

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 Contact

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Zehra BİCAV
  • Phone Number: 0 312 329 10 10

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women aged 20-39 years
  • Able to read and write Turkish
  • Turkish citizens
  • Have an active Instagram account and access it at least once daily
  • No previous diagnosis of cancer
  • Willing to participate and provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No access to a smartphone with the Instagram application
  • Visual, hearing, or cognitive impairment that may prevent participation in the intervention

Withdrawal Criteria:

  • Failure to complete the assigned podcast sessions during the intervention period
  • Participant request to withdraw from the study at any time

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: Screening
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Instagram Group
Participants will receive an 8-week Instagram-based breast cancer awareness intervention.
Other: Instagram-Based Breast Cancer Awareness Intervention
Participants will follow the "Breast Health Academy" Instagram account and receive an 8-week Instagram-based breast cancer awareness intervention. Educational breast cancer awareness and screening content will be shared as posts and stories on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Reminder stories encouraging breast self-examination (BSE), such as "Do not forget to perform your monthly BSE" and "Remember to perform BSE this week," will be shared on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Stories will also be saved as highlights. No content will be shared on Fridays, and all posts and stories will be published at the same time each day.
Experimental: Instagram + Podcast Group
Participants will receive an 8-week Instagram- and podcast-based breast cancer awareness intervention.
Other: Instagram-Podcast-Based Breast Cancer Awareness Intervention
Participants will follow the "Breast Health Academy Plus" Instagram account and receive an 8-week Instagram- and podcast-based breast cancer awareness intervention. Educational breast cancer awareness and screening content will be shared as posts and stories on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Reminder stories encouraging breast self-examination (BSE) will be shared on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays and saved as highlights. In addition, one educational podcast episode developed for the intervention will be delivered weekly via Instagram direct message every Friday. All content will be provided at the same time each day throughout the intervention period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Breast Cancer Awareness Scale
Time Frame: Assessments will be performed at baseline and Week 8.
The Breast Cancer Awareness Measure assesses awareness of breast cancer symptoms, breast self-examination practices, and age-related risk perception. Total scores range from 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating greater breast cancer awareness.
Assessments will be performed at baseline and Week 8.
Champion's Health Belief Model Scale in Breast Cancer Screening
Time Frame: Assessments will be performed at baseline and Week 8.
The Champion's Health Belief Model Scale in Breast Cancer Screening is a validated instrument used to assess breast cancer-related health beliefs, including perceived susceptibility, seriousness, health motivation, benefits, barriers, and self-efficacy regarding breast self-examination. Higher scores indicate stronger health beliefs, except for the barriers subscale, where higher scores indicate greater perceived barriers.
Assessments will be performed at baseline and Week 8.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Breast Cancer Screening Behavior Questionnaire
Time Frame: Assessments will be performed at baseline and Week 8.
A 3-item questionnaire assessing breast cancer screening behaviors, including breast self-examination, clinical breast examination, and mammography uptake.
Assessments will be performed at baseline and Week 8.
Participant Satisfaction (VAS)
Time Frame: Assessed at Week 8.
Participant satisfaction with the Instagram- and podcast-based intervention will be assessed using a 0-10 Visual Analog Scale (VAS), where 0 indicates "not satisfied at all" and 10 indicates "extremely satisfied."
Assessed at Week 8.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Ankara University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Baise Bicav, Yüksek İhtisas University
  • Principal Investigator: Zehra Bicav, Yüksek İhtisas University
  • Study Director: Sevinç Kutlutürkan, Ankara University
  • Study Director: Filiz Ünal Toprak, Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi

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)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 29, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AU-HEM-BB-02

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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