NCT06710509Completed
Patient Reminders Optimizing Mail-in Prevention Testing for Colorectal Cancer
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 8 Jun 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
Screening is an important tool for early colorectal cancer detection, and the most recent evidence suggests that early detection significantly improves survival rates. Current medical guidelines recommend that all people aged 45 to 75 be screened regularly. However, actual rates of screening in the United States are much lower than this. Colonoscopy is the gold standard in colon cancer screening, serving as both screening and prevention. However there are many barriers to colonoscopy uptake, including lack of awareness, patient reticence, scheduling complexity, and market variation in access. Stool testing is a valuable alternative to colonoscopy for low-risk patients. Exact Sciences is the company that makes Cologuard, which is the current best-in-class stool testing for colon cancer screening. Despite being a convenient at-home screening option, patient engagement with screening via stool testing has room for improvement. Over 40% of Ascension patients who have a stool testing order placed for them never return the screening kit in the mail. A large body of research demonstrates that interventions informed by behavioral science can support patients in engaging in a variety of preventative health behaviors. Personalized nudges have proven to be among the most effective types of interventions, along with interventions aimed at helping patients overcome barriers to screening. We aim to test whether behavioral nudges can increase stool testing kit return rates.
- Status (registry)
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 2106 (actual)
- First submitted
- 26 Nov 2024
- Start date
- 5 Dec 2024
- Primary completion date
- 2 Jan 2025
- Lead sponsor
- Laura Feemster
- Diseases
- Colorectal cancer
- NCT number
- NCT06710509
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Participants enrolled: 2106
- From 5 Dec 2024 to the primary completion date, 2 Jan 2025
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Prior treatment
- Have received a nudge campaign from the Clinical Transformation team in the past 90 days
- Patients who have previously opted out of receiving electronic communications from the health system in our message delivery platform (Salesforce)
Other illness
- Patients with a record of having been screened for colorectal cancer through some other method during the time since the initial order for Cologuard stool testing was placed.
Other
- Patients whose primary care providers are exempted from the campaign by the health system
Who the study is looking for
- Age 45-75
- Have either a mobile phone number or an email address on file with the health system
- Included in and non-compliant on the Ascension Colon Cancer Screening Clinical Priority Goal measure.
- Have consented to receive electronic communications from the health system
- Ascension primary care provider placed an order for stool testing between 60 and 180 days prior to the intervention.
- No record of Cologuard stool testing lab results returned within 60 days of the order being placed.
Age in the registry: 45 years to 75 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascension Health Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | St Louis | United States | Unknown status |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.