Making colorectal cancer screening easier and more likely to happen
Behavioral Economic Approaches for Population-based Colorectal Cancer Screening
This project uses default options, simpler choices, and direct outreach to help average-risk adults who are overdue complete colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy or stool tests.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11473206 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your primary care practice is part of this program, clinicians will get electronic reminders and you may receive direct outreach inviting you to screen. The program compares a colonoscopy-only pathway to a sequential choice pathway where colonoscopy is offered first and stool testing (FIT) is offered to people who decline or defer. About 30 diverse primary care practices and roughly 20,000 average-risk patients overdue for screening will be followed in a pragmatic, three-year trial. The approach uses behavioral nudges like opt-out framing, simpler choices, and reduced effort to try to increase durable screening rates and reduce racial/ethnic disparities.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Average-risk adults who are overdue for colorectal cancer screening and receive care at participating primary care practices (within the University of Pennsylvania Health System) are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who are already up-to-date with screening, those at high genetic or medical risk who need specialized pathways, or patients outside the participating practices are unlikely to benefit directly from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, more people like you would complete screening earlier, which could find cancer sooner or prevent cancers and reduce deaths.
How similar studies have performed: Previous outreach and behavioral-nudge studies have increased screening in some settings, but this large pragmatic test of sequential choice versus colonoscopy-only is novel at this scale.
Where this research is happening
Philadelphia, United States
- University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mehta, Shivan Jatin — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Mehta, Shivan Jatin
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.