Health Communication to Influence COVID-19 Vaccination Intent and Message Propagation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Respiratory Disease; Behavior, Health; Pneumonia; COVID-19; Vaccine Refusal; Coronavirus Infections; Infectious Disease; Respiratory Tract Infections; Pneumonia, Viral; Lung Diseases
• Interventions: Behavioral: Health message exposure

• Registration Number: NCT05244356
• Lead Sponsor: Clinical Research Centre, Malaysia

Brief Summary

This is a randomised controlled experiment in the form of a web based survey study which randomly exposes participants to different forms of public health messages, after which participants will be assessed on their intent to take up the COVID-19 vaccine, recommend the vaccine, and also willingness to propagate the exposed message.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2021-04-29
• Primary Completion: 2021-06-07
• Study Completion: 2021-06-07
• Status Verified: 2022-02
• Study First Submitted: 2022-02-10
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-02-16
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-02-16
• Study First Posted: 2022-02-17
• Last Update Posted: 2022-02-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 5784

Inclusion Criteria

• Willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the trial
• Malaysian nationality.
• Can understand either the English or Malay language.
• Aged 18 years or above

Exclusion Criteria

• Received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Risky choice framing (Safety)	Health message exposure	Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.
Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Descriptive Norm	Health message exposure	Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.
Negative attribute framing	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing the rate of side effects occurring with COVID-19 vaccination in a negative frame. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Descriptive Norm	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing that the COVID-19 vaccine has been widely tested including with the elderly and people with existing health conditions, while subsequently highlighting that the vaccine was already received by millions worldwide. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Healthcare worker (HCW) recommendation	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content highlights recommendation from Malaysian healthcare workers to get the vaccine, since majority of them has already received it, including the Malaysian Health Director General 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Positive attribute framing	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing the rate of side effects occurring with COVID-19 vaccination in a positive frame. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Descriptive Norm (70%)	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing that about 70% of Malaysians have expressed acceptance for the COVID-19 vaccine. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Risky choice framing (Side effects)	Health message exposure	Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.
Risky choice framing (Side effects)	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing a risky choice frame that compares the incidence rates of blood clots occurring with COVID-19 vaccination versus contracting COVID-19. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Control message	Health message exposure	Control message containing only rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Negative attribute framing	Health message exposure	Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.
Risky choice framing (Safety)	Health message exposure	Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing a risky choice frame which compares the death rates occurring with COVID-19 vaccination versus contracting the virus itself. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"
Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + HCW recommendation	Health message exposure	Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.
Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Positive attribute framing	Health message exposure	Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in intent to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to healthy adults.	Immediately before and after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure was assessed using a questionnaire answered through a 5 point ordinal scale. Scale ranges from "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Not sure", "Agree", and "Strongly agree".
Intent to share message on social media platform.	Immediately after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure was assessed using a questionnaire answered through a 5 point ordinal scale.Scale ranges from "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Not sure", "Agree", and "Strongly agree".
Change in intent to accept the COVID-19 vaccine amongst the Malaysian adult population.	Immediately before and after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure was assessed using a questionnaire answered through a 4 point ordinal scale. Scale ranges from '"Definitely no", "Not sure, but probably no", "Not sure, but probably yes"to Definitely yes".
Change in intent to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to elderly.	Immediately before and after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure was assessed using a questionnaire answered through a 5 point ordinal scale. Scale ranges from "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Not sure", "Agree", and "Strongly agree".
Change in intent to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to people with existing health conditions.	Immediately before and after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure was assessed using a questionnaire answered through a 5 point ordinal scale. Scale ranges from "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Not sure", "Agree", and "Strongly agree".

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Reliability of various information sources about COVID-19.	Immediately after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure assessed using a questionnaire that list out various types of information sources and having participants to rate the reliability for each source using a 5 point ordinal scale. Scale ranges from "Strongly not reliable", "Not reliable, "Not sure", "Reliable", and "Strongly reliable".
Moderators of vaccination intent.	Immediately after message exposure during questionnaire administration.	Outcome measure assessed using a series of questions answered through a 5 point ordinal scale. Scale ranges from "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Not sure", "Agree", and "Strongly agree".

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Institute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Malaysia; 🇲🇾 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia