Using Physical Tracking to Predict Sunburn

Klein Buendel

Status: Completed

Conditions: Prevention

Treatments: Behavioral: Intervention Group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04977700

0328

1R21CA241637-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Recreational UV exposure is associated with every form of skin cancer and individuals who engage in more physical activity have a higher prevalence of sunburn, a proximal biomarker of melanoma risk, perhaps explaining why melanoma is the only cancer with which physical activity is positively correlated. Mobile technology for tracking physical activity has become increasingly prevalent and Strava, an activity tracking app and social networking site for athletes, is one of the most popular of these technologies. This research will test the feasibility of delivering location-based, ecologically-valid sun safety advice to Strava users at times when they are predicted to be engaged in outdoor physical activity, by utilizing Strava's public open-source Applications Programming Interface.

Full description

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Over 5.4 million cases of keratinocyte cancers (basal and squamous cell) are diagnosed annually and incidence of melanoma has increased 3% each year for the past 30 years. In the 2014 Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer, the U. S. Surgeon General included strategies for coordinating messages on sun safety and physical activity, recognizing the need for sun safety among populations that engage in physical activity outdoors. Recreational UV exposure is associated with every form of skin cancer; individuals who engage in more physical activity have a higher prevalence of sunburn. Melanoma is the only cancer with which physical activity is positively correlated. Strava, a tracking app and social networking site for athletes, is one of the most popular of mobile technologies for logging physical activity and providing social feedback on activities by other Strava users. The goal of this R21 research is to test the feasibility of interfacing with the Strava website and its mobile app to develop an algorithm that a) predicts when individuals are likely to be engaged in physical activity outdoors in the sun when ultraviolet radiation is high and b) delivers sun safety advice tailored to the time, location, and personal risk (e.g., skin sun sensitivity) of the Strava users. Concept focus groups with Strava users and non-users will provide input on the feasibility, content, and functions in the Strava Sun (SS) intervention. The algorithm that predicts future outdoor exercise will be developed using machine learning modeling on activity data provided by Strava users. The SS intervention will be programmed to deliver ecologically-valid sun safety advice through Strava's open-source Applications Programming Interface (API) via email and comments in the Strava interface. The sun safety advice will be tailored to location, time, season and user's personal risk, employing advice algorithms we developed for a sun safety mobile app, sunZapp, and a social media message library in our Go Sun Smart intervention for outdoor recreation resorts. SS will be tested for usability prior to conducting a pilot field trial to establish feasibility of SS in practice. The project is significant and innovative. A sun protection interface for the Strava platform will provide individuals who engage in regular physical activity personalized, ecologically-valid advice to help them practice sun safety during outdoor activities. It will contain a novel machine learning algorithm that predicts future high-risk behavior, i.e., outdoor physical activity, to provide precision prevention advice.

Enrollment: 41 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18 or older; reside in the United States; read/write in English; upload outdoor activity to Strava ≥3 times per week

Exclusion criteria

• Younger than 18; reside outside of the United States; read/write in a language other than English; uploads Strava activity less than 3 times per week OR does not use Strava; having a cognitive or visual impairment that would interfere with participating; having another family member participating in the research; having participated in the focus group and usability testing

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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41 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention Group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be enrolled on a rolling basis and participate in SS for 4 weeks in the intervention condition. After pretesting, participants will receive sun protection messages from SS through emails/comments based on results from their activity data. All participants will complete posttest survey 4 weeks from randomization.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Intervention Group

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

A small control group will be included to see if a no-treatment control condition is acceptable to users and estimate follow-up rates for planning a randomized trial. Participants will be enrolled on a rolling basis and will complete a pretest at randomization. All participants will complete a posttest survey 4 weeks from randomization.