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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02621671

Communicating Multiple Disease Risks

Epidemiology seeks to improve public health by identifying risk factors for cancer and other diseases and conveying that information to relevant audiences. The audience is presumed to understand and use that information to make appropriate decisions about lifestyle behaviors and medical treatments. Yet, even though a single risk factor can affect the risk of multiple health outcomes, this information is seldom communicated to people in a way that optimizes their understanding of the importance of engaging in a single healthy behavior. Providing individuals with the ability to understand how a single behavior (obtaining sufficient physical activity) could affect their risk of developing multiple diseases could foster a more coherent and meaningful picture of the behavior's importance in reducing health risks, increase motivation and intentions to engage in the behavior, and over time improve public health.

The proposed study translates epidemiological data about five diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality (i.e., colon cancer, breast cancer (women), heart disease, diabetes, and stroke) into a visual display that conveys individualized risk estimates in a comprehensible, meaningful, and useful way to diverse lay audiences.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy

Age range

30 year–65 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 1

Primary location

Washington University School of Medicine

St Louis, Missouri, 63110, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • 30-65 years of age
  • Able to read and communicate in English
  • Not meeting national guidelines for aerobic physical activity (at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity)

Exclusion criteria

  • Less than 30 years of age
  • Older than 65 years of age
  • Not able to read and communicate in English
  • Meets national guidelines for aerobic physical activity (at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity)

Treatment and study plan

Cognitive Interview

Behavioral

Survey

Other

Primary outcomes

  1. Test eight images/visual displays that communicate risk estimates of five diseases associated with physical activity as measured by participants understanding of the images/visual displays

    Time frame: Completion of accrual for Arm 1 participants (estimated to be 1 year)

    Survey questions will assess participants' cognitive and affective risk perceptions, response efficacy, perceived severity and reaction to the visual displays, health literacy and numeracy. The quantitative data will be examined using descriptive statistics (e.g., frequencies, mean, median, mode, range, interquartile range, standard deviation) to evaluate whether a potential variability problem exists (e.g., restricted range) .

  2. Most effective combination of strategies in communicating multiple disease risk estimates (Arm 2 only)

    Time frame: Completion of accrual for Arm 2 participants (estimated to be 1 year)

    -Participants will be randomly assigned by computer to 1 of the 12 experimental conditions. After completing questions about information seeking and physical activity they will read a short scenario that describes the purpose of a risk assessment tool and asks them to imagine that they had just entered their information into such a tool. Participants will see whichever risk ladder corresponds to the experimental condition to which they were assigned. The hypothetical display will be consistent with a display generated for an individual whose risk profile includes risk increasing and decreasing factors, but does not engage in the recommended amount of physical activity. To increase feasibility for the display will show the risk of the diseases in the same order regardless of experimental condition. Participants will be allowed to view the display as long as they wish.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Time that it takes to complete the survey that accompanies the images (Arm 1 only)

    Time frame: Completion of accrual for first Arm 1 participants (estimated to be 1 year)

    -Verify that there are no issues with comprehension or interpretation that can cause the survey to go longer than 20 minutes.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Washington University School of Medicine

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Communicating Multiple Disease Risks: A Translation of Risk Prediction Science

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2017
First posted
Dec 3, 2015
Registry last updated
Nov 6, 2017

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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