This clinical trial evaluates an educational escape room intervention for improving awareness of and concern about breast cancer misinformation and reducing vulnerability to believing cancer misinformation among patients with stage I-III breast cancer. Misinformation, or communication about health information that is inaccurate or false, can have serious health consequences for those that believe it. The rise of the access to and use of various sources of information on the internet such as websites and social media has caused the spread of misinformation and disinformation to grow rapidly, resulting in negative consequences on health outcomes. Cancer misinformation, in particular, has become an increasingly prevalent issue that poses a real threat to the many cancer patients in the United States. The educational escape room intervention is a game designed to teach participants how to discern whether cancer nutrition information is accurate or may potentially be misinformation. Participants are immersed in the narrative while solving puzzles to learn key themes such as the need to talk to their doctors, looking for scientific studies, as well as avoiding fads and trends, miracle cures, anecdotal evidence, and targeted and clickbait ads.
OUTLINE: Patients complete a baseline before playing the virtual cancer nutrition information escape room game. Patients then play the virtual misinformation escape room game consisting of 5 puzzles and a final task over 30-45 minutes on study. Following the escape room game, patients complete a post-game survey and debrief interview (15 minutes).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
45
Play virtual misinformation escape room game
Ancillary studies
Ancillary studies
Play virtual misinformation escape room game
Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium
Seattle, Washington, United States
Percentage of Participants Accrued to the Study (Feasibility)
The percentage of patients who accrue to the study among those who are eligible and approached.
Time frame: At enrollment
Percentage of Patients Who Complete Game Sessions (Feasibility)
The percentage of patients who complete the game.
Time frame: Up to 1 week
Satisfaction (Acceptability)
Will be assessed using a Likert-type question to assess satisfaction with the game (1 = not at all satisfied, 10 = very satisfied)
Time frame: Up to 1 week
Likelihood to Recommend the Game to Someone Else (Acceptability)
Will be assessed using a Likert-type question to assess likelihood to recommend the game to someone else (1 = not at all likely, 5 = very likely).
Time frame: Up to 1 week
Usability (System Usability Scale)
Usability will be assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS). The SUS is a reliable, 10-item measure 10-item scale, scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree; 5=strongly agree), with previously reported excellent internal reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.91). Total scores on the SUS range from 0-100, with higher scores indicating greater usability.
Time frame: Up to 1 week
Types of Online Information
Will be assessed using a 6-item checklist that asks which resources participants or their family members have used to find nutrition information in the past 3 months (self-care/health and wellness book, telephone advice service, booklet/flyer shared by a health professional, internet forums, internet search, social media). Reported as count data of number of participants who endorsed one or more sources (self-care/health and wellness book, telephone advice service, booklet/flyer shared by a health professional, internet forums, internet search, social media).
Time frame: At baseline
Concern About Misinformation and Confidence in Identifying Misinformation
Will be assessed using our 4-item scale in which patients indicate degree to which they agree with statements using a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree). Items asked participants to rate the degree to which they agree with the following: (1) I am more worried about accidentally believing misinformation, (2) I am more worried about accidentally sharing misinformation online, (3) I am more concerned about misinformation in society, and (4) I feel more confident in my ability to identify misinformation).
Time frame: Up to 1 week
Cancer Nutrition Information Beliefs
Will be assessed using a 15-item checklist of common cancer nutrition misinformation and credible nutrition advice, using a 5-point Likert Scale (1=definitely false, 5 = definitely true). Data reported as an average score at both pre-intervention (pre-game score) and post-intervention (post-game score).
Time frame: At baseline and up to 1 week
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.