An interventional study of Traditional Education and AI-powered Chatbox in Oral Cancer, Chatbot and Patient Education, sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-08.
Sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
To evaluate the impact of AI-powered chatbot interactions versus traditional educational handouts on increasing participants' knowledge of oral cancer and its prevention
The study evaluates the difference in outcome of two distinct interventions aimed at enhancing oral cancer awareness and prevention among participants from African American communities in the Richmond area. Participants assigned to the first intervention arm will receive traditional educational handouts sourced from trustworthy and reliable health sources such as the CDC, American Cancer Association (ACA), and other health education resources. These handouts will be provided to the participants and provided enough time to read them based on calculated reading time, focusing on increasing awareness of oral cancer risks, preventive strategies, and the importance of regular dental check-ups. Participants assigned to the second intervention arm will engage with an AI-powered chatbot designed specifically for oral cancer education. The chatbot interaction will be initiated through a provided link, allowing participants to access information and ask questions related to oral health and cancer prevention. The chatbot is programmed to provide accurate information on oral cancer risks, symptoms, preventive measures, and the importance of regular dental check-ups
377 studies on the registry are indexed under Mouth Neoplasms; 126 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 60 is close to the median of 65 across 265 interventional studies indexed under Mouth Neoplasms.
Browse Mouth Neoplasms studies →Virginia Commonwealth University is the lead sponsor of 641 studies on the registry; 82 are open to participants now.
Of its 88 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 62 (70%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Receiving oral cancer educational materials (handouts from trusted sources such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Cancer Association (ACA) and other reliable health education resources.
Behavioral: Traditional Education
AI-powered chatbox designed specifically for oral cancer education. The chatbot is programmed to provide accurate information on oral cancer risks, symptoms, preventive measures, and the importance of regular dental check-ups.
Behavioral: AI-powered Chatbox
Participants will receive traditional educational handouts focusing on increasing awareness of oral cancer risks, preventive strategies, and the importance of regular dental check-ups. Participants will be provided time to read the handouts based on calculated reading time.
The chatbot interaction will be initiated through a provided link, allowing participants to access information and ask questions related to oral health and cancer prevention. The chatbot is programmed to provide accurate information on oral cancer risks, symptoms, preventive measures, and the importance of regular dental check-ups. Participants will be encouraged to interact with the chatbot for a specified duration
Compare participant retention rates between the AI-powered tool arm and the conventional educational material arm
Compare the percentage of participants that continued the intervention to the participants that continued using the active comparator to measure intervention feasibility.
Time frame: Baseline, and post intervention (3 months)
Evaluate the impact of AI-powered chatbot interactions versus traditional educational handouts on knowledge and behavior
Assess the effectiveness of the interventions by baseline and post intervention surveys assessing oral cancer knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors utilizing a questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model. The questionnaire will include scales measuring knowledge about oral cancer, its causes, risk factors, signs, preventive methods. Each question will have one correct answer, and the final score at baseline and after the intervention will be compared. Based on previous literature, a score of 60-70% can indicate adequate knowledge about a disease, but the primary goal of the outcome is to compare improvement in knowledge between control vs intervention arms.
Time frame: Baseline, and post intervention (3 months)
Investigate socio-demographic factors that affect oral cancer knowledge in the African American population
Pre-intervention surveys will include questions assessing socio-demographic variables of the participants. These variables will serve as covariates in the analysis to measure their effects on knowledge and attitudes. The effect of demographic factors affecting healthcare service utilization, such as education attainment and health insurance status, on knowledge about and attitude toward oral cancer will be measured through regression analysis to investigate their impact on oral cancer awareness and prevention efforts.
Time frame: Baseline, and post intervention (3 months)
Evaluate the acceptability of AI-powered chatbot interactions versus traditional educational handouts
Assess the acceptability of the interventions by baseline and post intervention surveys assessing satisfaction, appropriateness, ease of use, and acceptability of the interventions to improve oral cancer knowledge. Satisfaction and acceptability will be measured through a set of questions in the post-intervention questionnaire with 5 Likert scale-based responses ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", and the final score will be compared between arms.
Time frame: Baseline, and post intervention (3 months)
Plan to share: Yes — Participant survey data dictionary and individual participant responses will be shared upon request. Requests will be submitted to the PI (Tamas Gal, PhD) through email (Tamas.Gal@vcuhealth.org)
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Csr, Analytic code
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