The Tick App: Changing Behaviors With Educational Messaging

NCT ID: NCT06880692

Last Updated: 2025-10-10

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

3500 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-03-31

Study Completion Date

2026-05-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The goal of this work is to evaluate the use of ecological momentary assessments as a tool to assess risk and risk factors for tick encounters and tick-borne diseases. This study will be conducted across the United States, with a focus the upper Midwest and Northeast and with a focus on Wisconsin and will enroll up to 1000 people.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

In the United States, several online and smart-phone apps are available to ID a tick (TickID app, North Carolina State University), submit a picture of a tick (TickSpotters.org, an outreach tool within the larger TickEncounter resource center by the University of Rhode Island) or submit a tick for testing (among other public health agencies, TickReport.com by the University of Massachusetts Amherst). Although these tools are accessible throughout the U.S., they focus on the Northeast. In addition, they do not assess human behavior and tick encounters nor do these tools evaluate prevention and education strategies. A recent study in the Netherlands evaluated the use and effectiveness of a preventative and educational tick app ("Tekenbeet"). This app was well-appreciated, well-used, and improved the user's intention to implement preventative measures. This also illustrates the move of information acquisition from in-hand leaflets to information provision through smartphones.

In this study, data on human behavior regarding tick encounters and tick prevention measures will be obtained from a smartphone application using momentary assessments methodology to assess real time behavior and movement. Ecological momentary assessments are a methodological tool for gathering quantitative behavioral data in real-time, or within the framework of a participant's daily routine.

The daily logs feature provides researchers information about what the participant's activity, location, tick encounters, and prevention measures used. This study will analyze participants who complete 7 daily logs. Their daily logs will be analyzed against the types of educational messaging presented to them within the Tick App.

During a portion of the year the opening screen will contain a prevention message and daily log reminder instead of the home screen. The screen will provide a tick check reminder, a link to the daily log and for half the users the screen will also include a reminder about another prevention behavior (for example bathing/showering). Users will be randomly assigned to the two groups to assess if the additional prevention message increases prevention behavior (tick checks and showering/bathing) and the number of tick encounters.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Tick Bites

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants
Participants do not know if they are in the group getting messaging

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Tick App Educational Materials

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Educational Materials delivered via the Tick App

Intervention Type OTHER

Education about tick bite prevention

No Educational Messaging

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Educational Materials delivered via the Tick App

Education about tick bite prevention

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Will to participate in 7 days worth of daily activity logs within the Tick App.
* be able and willing to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

* Completes less than 7 days worth of daily logs or completes 7+ daily logs but not within 12 months.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

FED

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Illinois at Chicago

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Michigan State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Columbia University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Washington State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Wisconsin, Madison

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Susan Paskewitz

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Lyric Bartholomay

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

University of Illinois

Urbana, Illinois, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Columbia University

New York, New York, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Washington State University

Pullman, Washington, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Cassie Halvorsen

Role: CONTACT

608-265-4741

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Role: primary

517-353-1737

Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

1U01CK000651-01-00

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

Protocol Version 9/11/25

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

A073600

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

1U01CK000651-01

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

2018-0084

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

New Technology and Child Health
NCT02622035 COMPLETED NA
The Kickstart Health Program
NCT03308162 COMPLETED NA
Healthy Minds Comparison Study
NCT06282523 COMPLETED NA
Check Yourself v2.0
NCT02882919 COMPLETED NA