Denna sida har översatts automatiskt och översättningens korrekthet kan inte garanteras. Vänligen se engelsk version för en källtext.

Impact of SMS Messaging on Participation in Colorectal Cancer Screening

18 juni 2026 uppdaterad av: Anna Selva, Corporacion Parc Tauli

Impact of SMS Notifications on the Colorectal Cancer Screening Program

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of mortality in Catalonia. Although early detection programs using the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) are effective in reducing both incidence and mortality, their success relies on high population participation. Currently, in the Vallès Occidental region, the participation rate stands at 42%, which is below the 65% minimum recommended by European health authorities. The objective of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate whether sending a reminder text message (SMS) is an effective tool to increase participation in the screening program. The study will include 10,084 participants aged between 50 and 69 years. Half of the participants will receive a reminder SMS five weeks after their initial invitation, while the other half will follow the standard of care involving postal letters. Researchers anticipate that this strategy will not only increase the number of individuals undergoing screening but also shorten the response time and reduce the need for sending postal reminders

Studieöversikt

Detaljerad beskrivning

This study is a pragmatic, randomized, parallel-group clinical trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio, conducted within the framework of the Colorectal Cancer Early Detection Program (PDPCCR) in the Vallès Occidental region. The trial is coordinated by the Cancer Screening Unit of the Consorci Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí.

Operational Flow and Randomization: The study follows a sequential recruitment process. At Week 0, the entire target population receives a standard invitation letter according to the program's usual standard of care. For individuals who have not participated by Week 5, a computer-generated randomization sequence (Microsoft Excel) is applied weekly to assign them to either the intervention or control group. This weekly approach ensures the intervention is timely and integrated into the program's existing administrative workflow.

Intervention Logistics: The Intervention Group receives a one-way SMS reminder sent via the 'Alhora' platform, the secure institutional messaging system used by the screening program. The content of the SMS was previously optimized and validated through a qualitative pilot study involving semi-structured interviews to ensure high readability and cultural acceptability among the target population. Non-participants in both groups receive the standard postal reminder letter at Week 6.

Statistical Analysis Plan: The analysis will be conducted on both an intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol basis. Descriptive statistics will report frequencies and medians with interquartile ranges (25th-75th percentiles). Bivariate analysis will utilize Chi-square tests for participation rates and the Mann-Whitney U test for response time differences. To estimate the effect size, Relative Risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals will be calculated. Furthermore, a multivariate binary logistic regression will be performed using Jamovi software to adjust for potential confounders such as sex, age, geographic area, and history of previous participation

Studietyp

Interventionell

Inskrivning (Beräknad)

10084

Fas

  • Inte tillämpbar

Kontakter och platser

Det här avsnittet innehåller kontaktuppgifter för dem som genomför studien och information om var denna studie genomförs.

Studiekontakt

  • Namn: Anna Selva Olid, PhD
  • Telefonnummer: 82240 +34937231010
  • E-post: aselva@tauli.cat

Studera Kontakt Backup

  • Namn: Marina Lleal Custey, PhD
  • Telefonnummer: 82241 +34937231010
  • E-post: mlleal@tauli.cat

Studieorter

    • Catalonia
      • Sabadell, Catalonia, Spanien, 08208
        • Rekrytering
        • Unitat de Cribratge de Cáncer, Consorci Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí
        • Kontakt:
          • Anna Selva Olid, PhD
          • Telefonnummer: 82240 +34937231010
          • E-post: aselva@tauli.cat
        • Kontakt:
          • Marina Lleal Custey, PhD
          • Telefonnummer: 82239 +34937231010
          • E-post: mlleal@tauli.cat
        • Huvudutredare:
          • Anna Selva Olid, PhD
        • Huvudutredare:
          • Marina Lleal Custey, PhD
        • Underutredare:
          • Cessia Vilcahuamán Esteban, RN, Sp

Deltagandekriterier

Forskare letar efter personer som passar en viss beskrivning, så kallade behörighetskriterier. Några exempel på dessa kriterier är en persons allmänna hälsotillstånd eller tidigare behandlingar.

Urvalskriterier

Åldrar som är berättigade till studier

  • Vuxen
  • Äldre vuxen

Tar emot friska volontärer

Ja

Beskrivning

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women and men aged 50 to 69 years.
  • Residents of the Vallès Occidental area.
  • Individuals invited to the Colorectal Cancer Screening Program (PDPCCR) who have not participated within 5 weeks of the initial invitation.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Personal history of colorectal cancer.
  • Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
  • Colorectal polyps requiring specific clinical follow-up.
  • Hereditary polyposis syndromes.
  • High-risk family history of colorectal cancer: a first-degree relative diagnosed before age 50, or two or more first-degree relatives at any age.
  • Severe morbidity that precludes the performance of a colonoscopy in the event of a positive test result.

Studieplan

Det här avsnittet ger detaljer om studieplanen, inklusive hur studien är utformad och vad studien mäter.

Hur är studien utformad?

Designdetaljer

  • Primärt syfte: Hälsovårdsforskning
  • Tilldelning: Randomiserad
  • Interventionsmodell: Parallellt uppdrag
  • Maskning: Ingen (Open Label)

Vapen och interventioner

Deltagargrupp / Arm
Intervention / Behandling
Aktiv komparator: Control Group: Standard Care
Participants in this group follow the screening program's standard operating procedure. This consists of an initial invitation letter sent at week 0 and, in the event of non-participation, a postal reminder letter sent at week 6.

Control intervention based on the colorectal cancer screening program's usual standard of care. Components and Timing:

  1. Delivery of a nominal invitation letter at week 0, including program information and instructions for collecting the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit at community pharmacies.
  2. In the event of non-participation, delivery of a physical postal reminder letter at week 6.

Duration: Participation follow-up for both components concludes 3 months after the initial invitation. This study arm receives no digital or telephone-based stimuli during the study period.

Experimentell: Intervention Group: SMS + Standard Care
Participants receive the initial invitation letter at week 0. If they have not participated by week 5, an SMS text message reminder is sent. If they remain non-participants following the SMS, they receive the standard postal reminder letter at week 6.

Control intervention based on the colorectal cancer screening program's usual standard of care. Components and Timing:

  1. Delivery of a nominal invitation letter at week 0, including program information and instructions for collecting the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit at community pharmacies.
  2. In the event of non-participation, delivery of a physical postal reminder letter at week 6.

Duration: Participation follow-up for both components concludes 3 months after the initial invitation. This study arm receives no digital or telephone-based stimuli during the study period.

Behavioral intervention consisting of a one-way short message service (SMS) text message sent to the mobile phones of participants who have not completed the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) following the initial invitation. A single SMS reminder is sent exactly 5 weeks after the issuance of the standard invitation letter, one week prior to the scheduled postal reminder. Delivery is centrally managed through the secure 'Alhora' messaging platform. The message format is validated through a qualitative pilot study to ensure readability and acceptability by the target population (aged 50-69 years).

Vad mäter studien?

Primära resultatmått

Resultatmått
Åtgärdsbeskrivning
Tidsram
Participation rate
Tidsram: 3 months after the initial invitation
Proportion of individuals who complete a valid fecal immunochemical test (FIT) relative to the total number of individuals invited. This variable will be objectively obtained through the screening program's information system
3 months after the initial invitation

Sekundära resultatmått

Resultatmått
Åtgärdsbeskrivning
Tidsram
Time to participation
Tidsram: 3 months after the initial invitation (at the conclusion of the study follow-up).
Measurement of the number of days elapsed from the delivery of the initial invitation letter to the effective completion of the test (defined as the moment the participant's sample is analyzed in the laboratory ).
3 months after the initial invitation (at the conclusion of the study follow-up).
Number of reminder letters sent
Tidsram: 3 months after the initial invitation.
Total count of postal reminder letters sent by the program for participants in each group. This measure evaluates whether the SMS in the intervention group reduces the need for paper-based reminders.
3 months after the initial invitation.

Samarbetspartners och utredare

Det är här du hittar personer och organisationer som är involverade i denna studie.

Utredare

  • Huvudutredare: Anna Selva Olid, PhD, MPH, MD, Corporacion Parc Tauli

Publikationer och användbara länkar

Den som ansvarar för att lägga in information om studien tillhandahåller frivilligt dessa publikationer. Dessa kan handla om allt som har med studien att göra.

Allmänna publikationer

Studieavstämningsdatum

Dessa datum spårar framstegen för inlämningar av studieposter och sammanfattande resultat till ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieposter och rapporterade resultat granskas av National Library of Medicine (NLM) för att säkerställa att de uppfyller specifika kvalitetskontrollstandarder innan de publiceras på den offentliga webbplatsen.

Studera stora datum

Studiestart (Faktisk)

5 maj 2026

Primärt slutförande (Beräknad)

1 september 2026

Avslutad studie (Beräknad)

1 december 2026

Studieregistreringsdatum

Först inskickad

1 juni 2026

Först inskickad som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna

1 juni 2026

Första postat (Faktisk)

5 juni 2026

Uppdateringar av studier

Senaste uppdatering publicerad (Faktisk)

22 juni 2026

Senaste inskickade uppdateringen som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna

18 juni 2026

Senast verifierad

1 juni 2026

Mer information

Termer relaterade till denna studie

Plan för individuella deltagardata (IPD)

Planerar du att dela individuella deltagardata (IPD)?

NEJ

IPD-planbeskrivning

Restricted Access and Security: The protocol stipulates that data will be stored on secure hospital servers with access strictly limited to authorized research staff through encryption systems and secure passwords.

Privacy and Confidentiality: The use of personal identifying data is strictly limited to the technical execution of the intervention (SMS delivery). The research team has implemented measures to ensure the anonymization of the analytical database.

Legal Compliance: The study is governed by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and Organic Law 3/2018 on the Protection of Personal Data, which imposes legal restrictions on the transfer of individual data outside the consented framework for this specific research.

Läkemedels- och apparatinformation, studiedokument

Studerar en amerikansk FDA-reglerad läkemedelsprodukt

Nej

Studerar en amerikansk FDA-reglerad produktprodukt

Nej

Denna information hämtades direkt från webbplatsen clinicaltrials.gov utan några ändringar. Om du har några önskemål om att ändra, ta bort eller uppdatera dina studieuppgifter, vänligen kontakta register@clinicaltrials.gov. Så snart en ändring har implementerats på clinicaltrials.gov, kommer denna att uppdateras automatiskt även på vår webbplats .

Prenumerera