Clinical trial NCT03068052: Behavioral Economic Incentives and Cancer Health Risk Assessment
Official title: Behavioral Economic Incentives and Cancer Health Risk Assessment
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Cancer of the Colon
Lead sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
First posted: 2017-03-01
Enrollment: 2000
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 50
Maximum age (years): 64
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SCREENING

Brief summary: This is an RCT among UPHS employees between ages 50-64 comparing no incentive and a loss-framed incentive for completing cancer health risk assessment. Those eligible will receive the phone number for direct colonoscopy scheduling, with the incentive arm receiving an additional unconditional incentive. The primary outcome is completion of screening colonoscopy. Secondary outcomes include scheduling of colonoscopy and completion of risk assessment.

Detailed description: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Despite effective screening and treatment strategies, screening rates remain at 59-65%. UPHS employees have similarly limited rates of CRC screening despite having awareness, access, and insurance coverage. There is a need to identify those who are not up-to-date on screening and eligible for outreach in this population. Financial incentives informed by behavioral economic principles could be used to encourage self-report about screening status and completion of CRC screening. This research utilizes a digital health platform, Way to Health, to evaluate the feasibility of a cancer health risk assessment. This is a single-center RCT among UPHS employees between ages 50-64 that will randomize eligible participants into one of two study arms: (1) no incentive to complete cancer health risk assessment (no incentive) or (2) loss-framed incentive to complete cancer health risk assessment (incentive). Those that are eligible for screening will receive a direct access phone number to schedule colonoscopy, with an additional unconditional incentive for those in incentive arm. The primary outcome is completion of screening colonoscopy, with secondary outcomes of colonoscopy scheduling and completion of risk assessment.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria:

* male and female UPHS employees between the ages 50-64
* those who live within 30 miles of the main endoscopy sites

Exclusion criteria:

-minimal exclusion criteria

Primary outcomes:
measure: Colonoscopy participation
timeFrame: 3 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Colonoscopy scheduling
timeFrame: 3 months
measure: Risk assessment completion
timeFrame: 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: University of Pennsylvania Health System
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Pennsylvania
name: Shivan Mehta, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Mehta SJ, Reitz C, Niewood T, Volpp KG, Asch DA. Effect of Behavioral Economic Incentives for Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Randomized Trial. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 Aug;19(8):1635-1641.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2020.06.047. Epub 2020 Jul 2.