The Impact of Medical TV Drama in Improving Literacy on Asthma: An Online Open-Label Two-arm Randomized Control Trial.

Asthma is an important chronic noncommunicable disease that affects children and adults following a complex immune-mediated mechanism involving airway inflammation, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and transient and intermittent airway obstruction. Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood. A current global empirical study, published in 2025, estimated that asthma affects about 260 million people, and it is responsible for about 455,000 deaths globally. Despite the morbidity and mortality-laden nature of asthma, the awareness and knowledge of this important condition remains low among several populations. This knowledge gap can cause poor adherence to treatment. Studies have shown that media entertainment is a potent tool that can be used to deliver complex health information for a desired behavioral change among young people. Therefore, this two-arm randomized control trial (RCT) aims to evaluate the impact of watching a medical TV drama on asthma among a sample of individuals (who do not have prior medical knowledge) from different cultural backgrounds and countries. The insights gained from this online two-arm RCT will contribute to existing knowledge on the area of asthma prevention and control, and it will help to direct policy recommendations for planning health education interventions targeted at young adults.

METHODS Study Design This study will be an online, open-label, parallel-group, two-arm RCT, a rigorous design widely used to evaluate the effectiveness of health interventions. The trial will aim to determine the impact of a medical TV drama episode on asthma-related health literacy among young adults. The design will be informed by evidence suggesting that entertainment media can enhance health knowledge and influence behavior change. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group (who will view the episode) or a control group (with no exposure), and their knowledge scores will be compared before and after the intervention. The study will follow the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) 2010 guidelines for the reporting of RCTs.

Study Setting and Participants. The trial will be conducted entirely online, a delivery model increasingly adopted for its cost-efficiency, accessibility, and potential to reach a geographically diverse population. Participants will be recruited using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and X (formerly Twitter), which have previously been shown to be effective for digital recruitment in health research.

Only those who provide consent will be enrolled in the study, in accordance with ethical guidelines for digital health research.

Sample Size Determination The sample size will be calculated using G*Power version 3.1, a well-established tool for statistical power analysis. Assuming a two-tailed independent samples t-test, an alpha level of 0.05, a power of 0.80, and a large effect size (Cohen's d = 0.83), the minimum required sample size will be 48 participants, with 24 participants per group. This sample size will provide sufficient power to detect large differences in asthma-related knowledge outcomes.