Public Support for COVID-19 Test Allocation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Health Equity; COVID-19
• Interventions: Behavioral: First Come, First Served; Behavioral: Random; Behavioral: Disadvantaged Priority & Random

• Registration Number: NCT05185687
• Lead Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Brief Summary

In a randomized survey experiment, investigators will assess public support or opposition towards one of three potential government plans for allocating at-home coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests to United States residents: 1) first come, first served; 2) a random draw; or 3) a random draw with 20% of tests reserved for disadvantaged areas. Investigators will also examine public attitudes surrounding other logistical and equity-related aspects of these allocation plans.

Detailed Description

Complementing other efforts to increase access to COVID-19 testing in the United States, the federal government recently announced the purchase of 500,000,000 at home COVID-19 to be distributed for free "to Americans that want them". A central logistical element in matching supply with demand will be a website, on which people will register their interest in getting tests delivered to their home address. However, it is still unclear how supply will be matched with demand. Three main candidate options are first come, first served (FCFS), in which people are sent tests in the order in which they make requests; a random draw, such as a lottery; or a combination of a random draw with a guaranteed reserved amount for more disadvantaged populations. FCFS is a widely known and practiced rationing principle, but it has shown to exacerbate inequities in, for example, the allocation of vaccine appointments. Random draws can mitigate this impact, but, in the present context, might be insufficiently sensitive to the fact that not everyone has internet access, and that the need for testing is greater among more disadvantaged communities. Combining a lottery with a disadvantage reserve system using measures such as the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index is a practical way of promoting equity, and it was already used by the majority of US states in allocating vaccines. The main objective of this study is to assess public support for each of these three allocation plans and describe differences by demographic characteristics. Investigators will also assess public attitudes toward specific details of these allocation plans. The study, which is expected to take approximately 5 minutes to complete, will be administered as part of an omnibus online survey.

Basic Information
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Recruitment & Eligibility
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Study & Design
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Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2022-01
• Study Start: 2022-01-04
• Primary Completion: 2022-01-06
• Study Completion: 2022-01-06
• Study First Submitted: 2022-01-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-01-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-01-07
• Study First Posted: 2022-01-11
• Last Update Posted: 2022-01-11

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 2019

Inclusion Criteria

• Aged 18 years old or older, United States resident

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Exclusion Criteria

• None

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
First Come, First Served	First Come, First Served	Respondents will view the following description: "The US government will make 500 million COVID-19 home tests available for free. US residents can ask for tests by entering their home address in a website. It is likely that more people will want tests than will be available. How should the government decide who will receive tests, when there are not enough for all who want them? One plan that is being considered is this one:" Below this statement, respondents will view the "First Come, First Served" plan description.
Random	Random	Respondents will view the following description: "The US government will make 500 million COVID-19 home tests available for free. US residents can ask for tests by entering their home address in a website. It is likely that more people will want tests than will be available. How should the government decide who will receive tests, when there are not enough for all who want them? One plan that is being considered is this one:" Below this statement, respondents will view the "Random" plan description.
Disadvantaged Priority & Random	Disadvantaged Priority & Random	Respondents will view the following description: "The US government will make 500 million COVID-19 home tests available for free. US residents can ask for tests by entering their home address in a website. It is likely that more people will want tests than will be available. How should the government decide who will receive tests, when there are not enough for all who want them? One plan that is being considered is this one:" Below this statement, respondents will view the "Disadvantaged Priority \& Random" plan description.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Support for allocation plan	5 minutes	Self-reported degree of support for the plan, measured on a 5-point Likert scale ("strongly oppose" to "strongly support") that will be collapsed into 3 response categories ("oppose," "neutral," and "support") for analysis.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Household-level test allocation preference	5 minutes	Preferred way of sending tests to households, measured as a binary choice between a fixed or variable (based on household size) number of tests per household.
Tests allocated to disadvantaged areas	5 minutes	Self-reported percentage of tests wanted to be sent to disadvantaged areas, measured as a continuous variable on a slider from 0% to 100% with increments of 0.1%. This outcome will only be measured for respondents in the "Disadvantaged Priority \& Random" condition.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Harris Insights & Analytics; 🇺🇸 Washington, District of Columbia, United States