Pragmatic Mobile Health Trial to Promote Cancer Screening and Healthy Behaviors
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Intensive Engagement, Standard Engagement.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Cancer Screening, Chronic Diseases in Older Adults, Early Cancer Detection, Mammography. Basic parameters: 50 years — 69 years · Female.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Singapore
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Pragmatic Randomized Trial Using Mobile Health (mHealth) Technology to Change Cancer Screening Behavior and Promote Healthier Lifestyle
Overview
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Singapore, but many people who are eligible for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening do not get screened on time. Many adults also have chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity, which can often be reduced through healthier lifestyle habits. Although reminders for screening are available, they may not be enough to encourage long-term healthy behaviours. This study will evaluate whether regular health messages delivered through a mobile health (mHealth) platform can help improve cancer screening participation and promote healthier lifestyles among Singaporean women aged 50-69 years. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group will receive standard cancer screening reminders every six months. The intervention group will receive monthly evidence-based health messages, including information on cancer screening, healthy eating, physical activity, and other healthy lifestyle behaviours, delivered through the NUHS App (or a similar mobile platform) or SMS. The study will compare whether more frequent and engaging health messages lead to higher participation in recommended cancer screening, greater engagement with the digital platform, and healthier lifestyle behaviours compared with standard reminders. The findings may help identify an effective and scalable digital approach to support cancer prevention and healthy ageing across Singapore.
Detailed description
Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Singapore despite the availability of national screening programmes for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. Participation in recommended cancer screening remains below desired levels, while chronic diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours continue to increase. Existing approaches to promoting preventive health often rely on infrequent reminders and may be insufficient to support sustained behavioural change.
Singapore's widespread use of smartphones and digital health platforms provides an opportunity to deliver scalable mobile health (mHealth) interventions. This pragmatic randomized trial will evaluate whether regular delivery of evidence-based health messages through the NUHS App (or a similar mobile platform) or SMS can improve participation in recommended cancer screening and promote healthier lifestyle behaviours among Singaporean women aged 50-69 years.
Participants will receive either standard screening reminders or a more intensive programme of health messages covering cancer screening, healthy diet, physical activity, weight management, and other preventive health topics. The study will evaluate whether a sustained digital engagement strategy is more effective than standard reminders in encouraging long-term health behaviour change.
Because the intervention is delivered using existing healthcare digital infrastructure, the findings will inform whether this approach can be implemented at scale to improve cancer prevention and support healthy ageing in Singapore.
Interventions
- Behavioral Intensive Engagement
Participants will receive the standard bi-annual health messages as in Arm 1, supplemented with additional monthly messages through PN via the app OR via SMS, that provide comprehensive information on general population cancer screening guidelines, healthy lifestyle practices, motivational health messages, video links, and details about relevant events over a period of 12 months. In addition to the monthly messages, participants will be invited to attend up to 12 webinars (on women's health/scre - Behavioral Standard Engagement
Participants receive two standard health messages through PN via the NUHS app or similar platforms OR via SMS - one at recruitment and a subsequent reminder message after 6 months. The content will include general population cancer screening guidelines (breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers) and information pertaining to healthy lifestyle practices (including maintaining a healthy BMI, balanced diet, and sufficient exercise).
Primary outcome measures
- Comparison of Screen-Adherent Participants Between Arm 1 and Arm 2 [Time frame: 24 months post-intervention]
Secondary outcome measures (4)
- Proportion of participants with BMI in the healthy range [Time frame: 24 months post-intervention]
- Proportion of participants achieving a daily goal of 10,000 steps [Time frame: 24 months post-intervention]
- Proportion of participants with recommended moderate-intensity aerobic activity [Time frame: 24 months post-intervention]
- Proportion of participants eating recommended servings of fruits/vegetables daily at 24 months [Time frame: 24 months post-intervention]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- If using app for message delivery: Registered NUHS App users or HealthHub App users OR if using SMS for message delivery: Participants must have a mobile number recorded in electronic medical records (EPIC).
- Female
- Singapore citizen
- Aged 50-69 years
- With or without prior diagnosis of cancer
Exclusion criteria
- Participants unable to provide informed consent and take surveys, such as those with cognitive impairments or severe mental health conditions.
- Participants with terminal illness or serious comorbidities that preclude them from participating in preventive health programs.
- Pregnant women: Given the target age group (50-69 years), the prevalence of pregnancy is expected to be extremely low.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Screening
Study locations
Singapore · 1 center
- National University Hospital Singapore — Singapore
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07725328 · 2024-4448