Social Media Indoor Tanning Study

Skin Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title:

Using a Narrative-Based Approach to Reducing Indoor Tanning

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03834974
• Other study ID #: H19-033
• Secondary ID: R21CA226133-01
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 6, 2020
• Est. completion date: October 28, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: December 2021
• Source: University of Connecticut
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this research is to develop a social media delivered intervention to reduce unprotected sun exposure in young adults with a history of tanning.

Description:

We will use social marketing theory and a user-centered design approach to develop a social media intervention that engages young adults with a history of tanning to practice sun safety behaviors. We will incentivize young adults who have a history of tanning to create social media posts that encourage their peers to engage in sun safety. Focus groups of tanners guided the development of the intervention. Investigators will conduct a pilot feasibility trial where participants will be randomized to a condition in which they are incentivized to create sun safety social media messages to be posted on a sun safety social media account or a condition in which they are incentivized to create social media messages about how to use technology to support healthy lifestyle behaviors to be posted on a health technology social media account. The intervention will last 4 weeks. Feasibility outcomes include recruitment, retention, acceptability, participation, social media message engagement (likes, comments, shares), persuasive impact of messages, unprotected sun exposure, sun protection, and tanning behavior. This work will inform a fully powered randomized trial testing the efficacy of this intervention.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 66
• Est. completion date: October 28, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: October 28, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 30 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ages 18-30

• Tanned indoors or outdoors at least once in the past year

• Intends to tan indoors or outdoors this summer

• Daily user of any social media platform

Exclusion Criteria:

• No smartphone

• Does not use a social media platform daily

• Lives in a state with an average temperature <75 degrees in May

• Inability to provide consent due to mental illness or a cognitive impairment

• Non-English speaking

• Prisoner

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Skin Cancer
• Skin Neoplasms

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Sun Safety Social Media Challenge
Participants will attend a webinar to learn how to create effective social media posts about sun safety and be oriented to the social media accounts on which the messages will be posted. They will be informed that posts should include a sun safety message (e.g., promoting sunscreen use and protective clothing/hats or discouraging risk behaviors like tanning and burning). They will be encouraged to be creative so that the message gets likes and shares. Participants will be encouraged to follow the feeds to see the engagement on their posts, to share the posts in their feed, and to see other participants' posts. Participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card per post for a maximum of 6 posts ($60). The participant who created the post that receives the most likes, comments, and shares each week will win a $50 Amazon gift card.
• Digital Health Social Media Challenge
Participants will attend a webinar to learn how to create effective social media posts about using technology to get healthy and be oriented to the social media accounts on which the messages will be posted. They will be informed that posts should mention some way that technology (e.g., mobile apps, wearables) can be used to promote a healthy habit (e.g., diet, exercise). They will be encouraged to be creative so that the message gets likes and shares. Participants will be encouraged to follow the feeds to see the engagement on their posts, to share the posts in their feed, and to see other participants' posts. Participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card per post for a maximum of 6 posts ($60). The participant who created the post that receives the most likes, comments, and shares each week will win a $50 Amazon gift card.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Connecticut	Storrs	Connecticut

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Connecticut	National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Recruitment	The number of completed respondents to recruitment ads, number of respondents eligible at initial screening, and number of respondents who completed baseline.	Baseline
Primary	Retention	The % of participants in each condition who complete the follow-up assessment.	4-week follow-up
Primary	Acceptability	Number of participants who selected agree or strongly agree on 5-point Likert scale rating of how likely participants would be to recommend the intervention to a friend, and how likely they would be to participate again.	4-week follow-up
Primary	Participation	The number of posts created by participants	4-week follow-up
Primary	Post Engagement	The median number of likes, shares and retweets, and unique commenters each participant post received.	4 weeks
Primary	Desirability of Tanning	Scale measuring participants' belief that a tan is attractive. Scale ranges from 0-12 with higher scores indicating higher levels of belief that a tan is attractive.	Baseline
Primary	Desirability of Tanning	Scale measuring participants' belief that a tan is attractive. Scale ranges from 0-12 with higher scores indicating higher levels of belief that a tan is attractive.	4-week follow-up
Primary	Desirability of Tanning Alternatives	Average score on items relating to tanning alternative desirability. Scale ranges from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes towards tanning alternatives.	Baseline
Primary	Desirability of Tanning Alternatives	Average score on items relating to tanning alternative desirability. Scale ranges from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes towards tanning alternatives.	4-week follow-up
Primary	Persuasive Impact of Participant Messages	The mean of participants ratings for how persuasive they found each post (other than those they created) on a scale of 0-100, with higher scores indicating more persuasive.	4-week follow-up
Primary	Contamination	The number of participants who report they saw the opposite conditions Facebook or Twitter feeds.	4-week follow-up
Secondary	Outdoor Tanning Intentions	Three items assessed intentions to tan even once, intentions to tan regularly in the next year, and intentions to quit on a 7-point scale (0=definitely will not, 6=definitely will).	Baseline
Secondary	Outdoor Tanning Intentions	Three items assessed intentions to tan even once, intentions to tan regularly in the next year, and intentions to quit on a 7-point scale (0=definitely will not, 6=definitely will).	4-week follow-up
Secondary	Sun Exposure	How many hours the participant spent outside per week between the hours of 10am and 4pm.	Baseline
Secondary	Sun Exposure	How many hours the participant spent outside per week between 10am and 4pm	4-week follow-up
Secondary	Outdoor Tanning	How many times in the last 4 weeks the participant went outside for the purpose of tanning in the sun.	Baseline
Secondary	Outdoor Tanning	How many times in the last 4 weeks the participant went outside for the purpose of tanning in the sun.	4-week follow-up
Secondary	Sun Protection	Number of participants who reported using sun protection (sunscreen, protective clothing) often or always in the past month	Baseline
Secondary	Sun Protection	Number of participants who reported using sun protection (sunscreen, protective clothing) often or always in the past month	4-week follow-up
Secondary	Indoor Tanning Behavior	Number of indoor tanning visits in the previous month	Baseline
Secondary	Indoor Tanning Behavior	Number of indoor tanning visits in the previous month	4 weeks
Secondary	Sunburn	Number of participants with 1 or more sunburns in the past month	baseline
Secondary	Sunburn	Number of participants with 1 or more sunburns in the past month	4 weeks
Secondary	Outdoor Tanning Duration	Median reported average number of minutes tanned per episode in the past 4 weeks, among participants who tanned in the past 4 weeks.	4 weeks
Secondary	Outdoor Tanning Duration	Median reported average number of minutes tanned per episode in the past 4 weeks, among participants who tanned in the past 4 weeks.	Baseline