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A Mobile Health Intervention Among Hispanics

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

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05389332
Enrollment
114
Registered
2022-05-25
Start date
2025-04-20
Completion date
2026-10-31
Last updated
2025-12-16

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cancer of Skin

Keywords

Mobile health

Brief summary

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).

Detailed description

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.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALHispanics Skin Cancer intervention

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.

BEHAVIORALControl group: physical activity and nutrition for Hispanics

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.

Sponsors

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Aim 1: Interviews with ten to twelve health care providers and community leaders for a 30-60 minute interview via Zoom and recorded. Aim 2: We anticipate recruiting four focus groups (2 English, 2 Spanish) with six to eight participants each for a 60-minute audio-recorded focus group. Ten to twelve individual interviews for a 30-60 minute interview via Zoom and recorded. Aim 3: A single-arm design: participants will receive WhatsApp messages about skin cancer for three months. The participants will need to complete a survey with the same questions in the pre-survey along with the acceptability and feasibility measures at three-month and six-month follow-ups. Aim 4: A pilot RCT comparing two groups: skin cancer and physical activity and nutrition information. Survey at baseline, three-month and six-month follow-ups.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

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

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Sun protection behavior by self-reportThe change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsMean score of use sunscreen with an SPF 30 or higher, seek shade, wear protective clothing, wear wide-brimmed hat, wear sunglasses

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Wear protective clothing behavior by self-reportThe change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsWear protective clothing
Wear wide-brimmed hat behavior by self-reportThe change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsWaer a wide brim hat
Seek shade behavior by self-reportThe change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsSeek shaded areas
Skin self-examinationChanges at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsSkin examination by oneself
Skin examination by a health care professionalChanges at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsskin examination by a health care professional
Wear sunglasses behavior by self-reportThe change is being assessed at baseline, three month and six month follow-up intervalsWear sunglasses

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactZhaomeng Niu, PhD
zhaomeng.niu@rutgers.edu509-339-3076

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026