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NCT Number: NCT05389332

A Mobile Health Intervention Among Hispanics

Hypothesis: More than 80% of the participants (n=40) will complete the intervention at three month (intervention completion) and the six month follow-up (retention rate as feasibility). More than 70% of the participants will report high overall study satisfaction (acceptability) with the intervention and study.

This pre-pilot will inform intervention and procedural refinements for the pilot.

Hypothesis: Participants who receive the intervention (n=57) will report more skin cancer-related preventive behaviors (e.g., mean of summed score of sun protection behaviors such as use of sunscreen, etc.) at three month and six month follow-up compared to those in the control condition (n=57, who will receive general information about physical activity and nutrition).

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Key information

Conditions

Cancer of Skin Neoplasms Neoplasms by Site Skin Diseases Skin Neoplasms Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Age range

18 year–100 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Zhaomeng Niu, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

732-235-7921

About this study

Aim 1: The investigator will conduct individual interviews among key stakeholders such as health care providers and community leaders to plan a mobile skin cancer intervention among Hispanics. Data will be collected from individual interviews (n=10-12) among key stakeholders and triangulated with data from a funded pilot grant (focus groups and surveys with Hispanic community members) to gather information regarding Hispanics perceptions and behaviors related to skin cancer and suggestions for a WhatsApp intervention.

Aim 2: Employing a user-centered approach to develop a WhatsApp intervention to promote skin cancer risk-reduction behaviors among Hispanics and encourage engagement in the intervention. Use an iterative qualitative (focus groups with Hispanics, n=32; individual interviews with key stakeholders e.g., health care providers and community leaders, n=10-12) process to incorporate input from Hispanics and relevant stakeholders to develop a mobile WhatsApp intervention that is theory- and culturally-guided.

Aim 3: The investigators will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this mobile intervention in a single-arm pre-, post-test pilot study among at-risk Hispanics.

Aim 4: Refine the intervention and conduct a pilot RCT (n = 114) using this mobile program among Hispanics at risk for skin cancer and assess the preliminary effects of the mobile intervention at 3-month (intervention completion) and 6-month follow-ups.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Self-report as Hispanics
  • 18 years or older
  • No personal history of skin cancer
  • Report more than one skin cancer risk factor
  • Do not engage in sufficient sun protection behaviors
  • Have not conducted a SSE in the past three months
  • Own a smartphone and will be willing to use WhatsApp

Exclusion criteria

  • Currently being treated for melanoma or nonmelanoma skin cancer

Treatment and study plan

Hispanics Skin Cancer intervention

Behavioral

With the insights from the community, the investigators will then develop the mobile intervention targeting Hispanics at risk for skin cancer to promote sun protection and SSE and get feedback to optimize the intervention. After the random allocation participants will receive instructions on how to use WhatsApp and then the intervention. They will receive WhatsApp messages about skin cancer for three months with optimal frequencies determined by prior aims and complete a post-intervention survey which contains the same questions in the pre-survey. The pilot RCT will be conducted around the spring/summer of Year four of the R00 when UVR is generally the highest in the US. The participants will be contacted at six months after the baseline survey to complete another survey similar to the post-intervention survey.

Control group: physical activity and nutrition for Hispanics

Behavioral

Content will be developed from established websites such as CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. We selected these topics because they are also of concern among Hispanics and provide an unrelated attention control.

Primary outcomes

  1. Sun protection behavior by self-report

    Time frame: The change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    Mean score of use sunscreen with an SPF 30 or higher, seek shade, wear protective clothing, wear wide-brimmed hat, wear sunglasses

Secondary outcomes

  1. Seek shade behavior by self-report

    Time frame: The change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    Seek shaded areas

  2. Wear protective clothing behavior by self-report

    Time frame: The change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    Wear protective clothing

  3. Wear wide-brimmed hat behavior by self-report

    Time frame: The change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    Waer a wide brim hat

  4. Wear sunglasses behavior by self-report

    Time frame: The change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    Wear sunglasses

  5. Skin self-examination

    Time frame: Changes at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    Skin examination by oneself

  6. Skin examination by a health care professional

    Time frame: Changes at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervals

    skin examination by a health care professional

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Zhaomeng Niu, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

509-339-3076

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Developing and Testing a Mobile Health Intervention to Promote Sun Protection Behaviors and Skin Examination Among Hispanics

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
May 25, 2022
Registry last updated
Dec 16, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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