Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
stem cell transplant, bone marrow donor, motivations, altruism
Brief summary
The current study seeks to understand factors that influence college students' likelihood of participating the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be the Match for bone marrow and stem cell donations. The secondary aim is to compare emotional and rational approaches to encouraging participation in the registry and how these approaches may impact intentions to participate in the NMDP.
Detailed description
This study is a randomized controlled trial that will randomize participants to receive either an emotional appeal about a child with cancer who needs a bone marrow transplant or a rational appeal using data on the racial/ethnic disparities within the transplant registry. Participants will be recruited through the Psychology Subject Pool, which will then link students to the study measures in an online survey. Participants will be asked their age to confirm eligibility to participate (students must be between 18-35), and eligible students will be presented with the consent form through the online survey system. Participants will then be asked to complete measures of demographic information, personality/psychological characteristics, and transplant-related knowledge, intentions, and attitudes. All participants will then be given background information on bone marrow transplants. Randomization: Students will be randomized by sex in the online survey system to the emotional presentation condition or the rational presentation condition. The emotional condition will tell the story of a fictional pediatric patient with cancer who needs a transplant. The rational condition will describe the facts about the need for diversity in the registry. After being presented with the rational or emotional appeal, participants will again be asked about their intentions to register, their motivations for registering, and their mood.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALEmotional Appeal
Participants will be presented with a short vignette about a child undergoing cancer treatment and needing a bone marrow transplant in order to survive cancer.
BEHAVIORALRational Appeal
Participants will be presented with data regarding the importance of considering race/ethnicity when looking for a bone marrow transplant donor and the likelihood of finding a match based on the patient's racial/ethnic background.
Sponsors
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Rutgers Camden Students enrolled in Psych 101 and Method and Theory * Between the ages of 18-35
Exclusion criteria
* Students under 18 years of age or over 36 or older will be excluded.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intention to Register | Baseline and after the experimental manipulation (Post-Intervention) | Participants rated the likelihood of registering on a 1-7 scale with higher scores indicating greater intention to join the registry (better outcome). Participants were asked these questions before (baseline) and after (post-intervention) the experimental manipulation. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mood | Baseline and after experimental manipulation (Post-Intervention) | Participant mood was assessed on a 1-10 scale, with higher scores indicating a better mood. Participants were asked these questions before (baseline) and after (post-intervention) the experimental manipulation. |
| Psychosocial and Demographic Correlates of Intentions to Register--Knowledge | Baseline | Participants completed a knowledge measure about bone marrow and stem cell transplant donation using true/false statements about transplant donation that was examined as a correlate of their intentions to register with the transplant registry. The measure was scored as a percent of items answered correctly, higher scores indicating better knowledge. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
Participants were randomized after completing study baseline measures. 36 participants dropped out before reaching randomization.
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Emotional Group Participants will be randomly assigned to receive an emotional or rational appeal, stratified by sex.
Emotional Appeal: Participants will be presented with a short vignette about a child undergoing cancer treatment and needing a bone marrow transplant in order to survive cancer. | 181 |
| Rational Group Participants will be randomly assigned to receive an emotional or rational appeal, stratified by sex.
Rational Appeal: Participants will be presented with data regarding the importance of considering race/ethnicity when looking for a bone marrow transplant donor and the likelihood of finding a match based on the patient's racial/ethnic background. | 180 |
| Total | 361 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Emotional Group | Total | Rational Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 19.62 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.62 | 19.67 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.6 | 19.71 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.58 |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Asian | 31 Participants | 57 Participants | 26 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Black or African American | 28 Participants | 70 Participants | 42 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Hispanic/Latinx | 32 Participants | 57 Participants | 25 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Indigenous/Native American | 3 Participants | 3 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Middle Eastern | 0 Participants | 3 Participants | 3 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity More than 1 Race/Ethnicity | 34 Participants | 66 Participants | 32 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Native Hawaiian | 0 Participants | 1 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity Not reported | 1 Participants | 3 Participants | 2 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race/Ethnicity White | 52 Participants | 101 Participants | 49 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 181 Participants | 361 Participants | 180 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Female | 130 Participants | 261 Participants | 131 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Male | 50 Participants | 99 Participants | 49 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Prefer not to say | 1 Participants | 1 Participants | 0 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 181 | 0 / 180 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 181 | 0 / 180 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 181 | 0 / 180 |
Outcome results
Primary
Intention to Register
Participants rated the likelihood of registering on a 1-7 scale with higher scores indicating greater intention to join the registry (better outcome). Participants were asked these questions before (baseline) and after (post-intervention) the experimental manipulation.
Time frame: Baseline and after the experimental manipulation (Post-Intervention)
Population: Likelihood to join registry for all randomized study participants on a 1-7 scale with higher scores indicating a greater likelihood of joining (better outcome).
| Arm | Measure | Group | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Group | Intention to Register | Baseline | 3.32 score on a scale | Standard Error 0.1 |
| Emotional Group | Intention to Register | Post-Intervention | 4.15 score on a scale | Standard Error 0.113 |
| Rational Group | Intention to Register | Baseline | 3.06 score on a scale | Standard Error 0.104 |
| Rational Group | Intention to Register | Post-Intervention | 3.27 score on a scale | Standard Error 0.113 |
p-value: 0.001ANOVA
Secondary
Mood
Participant mood was assessed on a 1-10 scale, with higher scores indicating a better mood. Participants were asked these questions before (baseline) and after (post-intervention) the experimental manipulation.
Time frame: Baseline and after experimental manipulation (Post-Intervention)
Population: Pre/Post Intervention Mood report for randomized participants. 1 did not complete data.
| Arm | Measure | Group | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Group | Mood | Post-Intervention | 6.28 units on a scale | Standard Error 0.137 |
| Emotional Group | Mood | Baseline | 6.59 units on a scale | Standard Error 0.129 |
| Rational Group | Mood | Baseline | 6.36 units on a scale | Standard Error 0.13 |
| Rational Group | Mood | Post-Intervention | 6.18 units on a scale | Standard Error 0.138 |
Comparison: Repeated measures ANOVA comparing mood (rated on a 1-10 scale with higher scores indicating better mood) given to participants before and after the study manipulation by groupp-value: 0.357ANOVA
Secondary
Psychosocial and Demographic Correlates of Intentions to Register--Knowledge
Participants completed a knowledge measure about bone marrow and stem cell transplant donation using true/false statements about transplant donation that was examined as a correlate of their intentions to register with the transplant registry. The measure was scored as a percent of items answered correctly, higher scores indicating better knowledge.
Time frame: Baseline
Population: Participant knowledge at baseline (pre-intervention) in all randomized participants
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Group | Psychosocial and Demographic Correlates of Intentions to Register--Knowledge | 19.5 percentage of knowledge items correct | Standard Deviation 18 |
| Rational Group | Psychosocial and Demographic Correlates of Intentions to Register--Knowledge | 22.6 percentage of knowledge items correct | Standard Deviation 18 |
p-value: 0.102ANOVA