Nudging Preventive Screening Via Message Framing and Bundling

Conditions

• Breast Neoplasms
• Colorectal Neoplasms
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Dyslipidemias
• Prostatic Neoplasms
• Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

21 Years - 74 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Basic cancer screening message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming their recommended cancer screening exam and describing it as the test recommended for their age group.
• Basic chronic disease test message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming the recommended chronic disease test and describing it as the test recommended for their age group.
• Basic combined message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming both the recommended cancer screening and the chronic disease test, and describing them as the tests recommended for their age group.
• Risk framing cancer screening message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming their recommended cancer screening exam and emphasizing that (1) the recommendation is based on health risks common to their age group and (2) early detection can be life-saving
• Risk framing chronic disease test message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming the recommended chronic disease test and emphasizing that (1) the recommendation is based on health risks common to their age group and (2) early detection can be life-saving.
• Risk framing combined message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming both exams and emphasizing that (1) the recommendation is based on health risks common to their age group and (2) early detection can be life-saving.
• Peace of mind framing cancer screening message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming their recommended cancer screening exam and emphasizing that getting the exam done on time will give them peace of mind about their health.
• Peace of mind framing chronic disease test message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming the recommended chronic disease and emphasizing that getting the exam done on time will give them peace of mind about their health.
• Peace of mind framing combined message — BEHAVIORAL
  Patients receive a WhatsApp message naming both exams and emphasizing that getting the exams done on time will give them peace of mind about their health.

Study Details

This study is a randomized controlled field experiment embedded in the medical institution Early Diagnosis Program in Chile. Participants with two exams pending (a cancer screening test and a chronic disease test for diabetes and dyslipidemia) will be randomly assigned across a 3 × 3 factorial design: three message framing conditions (Basic, Risk/Importance, Peace of Mind) crossed with three exam-type conditions (cancer screening only, chronic disease test only, or both exams). Participants with only a cancer screening pending will be assigned to the 3 framing conditions and be encouraged to get the cancer screening. In both cases, participants are assigned to each experimental arm at twice the rate of an additional arm receiving the standard message currently used by the medical institution. This standard-message arm is included for operational purposes, is not part of the pre-specified analyses, and is thus not described in the "Arms and Intervention" section (or counted for "number of arms").

Key Dates

First listed

Jun 12, 2026

Start date

Jun 8, 2026

Status verified

Jun 2026

Primary completion

Sep 8, 2026

Completion

Dec 8, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

235,000 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

FACTORIAL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Arms

• Active Comparator: Basic/Control × Cancer
  Basic cancer screening message
• Active Comparator: Basic/Control × chronic disease test
  Basic chronic disease test message
• Active Comparator: Basic/Control × Both
  Basic combined message
• Experimental: Risk/Importance × Cancer
  Risk framing cancer screening message
• Experimental: Risk/Importance × Chronic Disease Test
  Risk framing chronic disease test message
• Experimental: Risk/Importance × Both
  Risk framing combined message
• Experimental: Peace of Mind × Cancer screening
  Peace of mind framing cancer screening message
• Experimental: Peace of Mind × chronic disease Test
  Peace of mind framing chronic disease test message
• Experimental: Peace of Mind × Both
  Peace of mind framing combined message

Primary Outcome Measure

Screening Engagement Response [ Time Frame: 7 days after message delivery ]

Central Contacts

• Daniel Schwartz Associate Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Ph.D. Behavioral Decision
  +56979984165
  [email protected]

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