Exploring Changes in COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions by Prompting Altruistic Motives Using a Video Intervention

NCT04960228 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: 2022-2877
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,097
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

As Canada records over 1,400,000 COVID-19 infections and 26,000 deaths, the need to stop the spread of the virus has become increasingly critical. Although younger individuals (aged 20-39) have lower hospitalisation and death rates than older adults, they have high rates of infection and may be less willing to accept a vaccine because they consider the disease to be less dangerous for themselves. It is of concern that around 30% of Canadians, especially younger adults, will not be willing to accept a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination will be the best method to control the pandemic in the future and protect those at higher risk of hospitalisation and death (e.g., elderly, those with chronic diseases). Therefore, achieving high rates of vaccination coverage among younger adults is very important in the long run to protect not only themselves but also others. For the experimental condition, the investigators will develop a brief video that will promote the vaccine's protection of others (altruism). For the control condition, the investigators will create an informational text on COVID-19 preventative health measures based on recommendations from the Public Health Agency of Canada. 2630 younger adults (aged 20 to 39) who have not yet received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will be recruited. To match Canadian demographics, participants will be recruited using the following quotas to reflect census data from Statistics Canada: 50% male and 50% female; 80% Anglophone and 20% Francophone; 80% urban and 20% rural; and 50% household income level less than $75,000 and 50% household income greater than $75,000. Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to watch the video, with the other half reading the text. In both groups, participants will complete a short online survey before and after viewing the video or reading the text. The goal is to assess the efficacy of the video on increasing younger adults' willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The research team is partnering in this study with key agencies, e.g., Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), and the Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec (INSPQ) to help communicate the research findings to the general population.

Conditions

Vaccine Refusal

Keywords

Vaccine Hesitancy; Vaccine Decision Making; COVID-19

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Post Intervention Vaccine Intentions

  Vaccine intentions are measured using one item: "Which of the following best describes your thoughts about a COVID-19 vaccine?". Participants will then indicate their vaccine intention stage, adapted from the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM): I have not thought about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, I am undecided about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, I do not want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and I do want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants will answer this item before (pre) and after (post) the intervention has been administered, all within the same survey.

  Pre-post intervention, within the same survey. The length of the survey is projected to be about 10 minutes.

Study Arms (2)

Altruism Video Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will watch a 3-minute video about COVID-19 vaccination that elicits altruistic motives. The role of this arm is to test whether altruistic themes are an effective way to promote COVID-19 vaccination amongst young people and whether a video format is preferable for this group.

Behavioral: Altruism Video

Informational Text Intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will read a brief informational text including information drawn from the Public Health Agency of Canada website (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/prevention-risks.html#self). The purpose of this arm is to provide an active comparator with information about COVID-19 preventative health behaviors that has been strongly recommended to the public since the beginning of the pandemic. By doing this, we will assess if the video intervention changes vaccination intentions more than a presentation of general, well-known COVID-19 related information.

Behavioral: COVID-19 Informational Text

Interventions

Altruism Video BEHAVIORAL

The video provides three vignettes about a diverse set of people who may be more vulnerable to serious health consequences from COVID-19. In each of the stories, high vaccine uptake of those around these vulnerable individuals serves to protect them. This communicates that getting the COVID-19 vaccine can be done for prosocial reasons and to foster a sense of community, as it provides protection not only to oneself, but also to others.

Altruism Video Intervention

COVID-19 Informational Text BEHAVIORAL

The topics included in the text are how COVID-19 spreads, hygiene, physical distancing, and travel restrictions. Participants will complete three comprehension questions, one after each of the following sections: hygiene, physical distancing, and travel restrictions.

Informational Text Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years - 39 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Residing within Canada and aged between 20 and 39 years.

You may not qualify if:

• Having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Zeev Rosberger: lead

Study Sites (1)

Lady Davis Insitutute for Medical Research

Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E2, Canada

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Li M, Taylor EG, Atkins KE, Chapman GB, Galvani AP. Stimulating Influenza Vaccination via Prosocial Motives. PLoS One. 2016 Jul 26;11(7):e0159780. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159780. eCollection 2016.

  PMID: 27459237 BACKGROUND

• Brewer NT, Chapman GB, Rothman AJ, Leask J, Kempe A. Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science Into Action. Psychol Sci Public Interest. 2017 Dec;18(3):149-207. doi: 10.1177/1529100618760521.

  PMID: 29611455 BACKGROUND

• Rieger M. Triggering altruism increases the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID- 19. Social Health and Behavior. 2020; 3(3): 78.

  BACKGROUND

• Zhu P, Tatar O, Griffin-Mathieu G, Perez S, Haward B, Zimet G, Tunis M, Dube E, Rosberger Z. The Efficacy of a Brief, Altruism-Eliciting Video Intervention in Enhancing COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions Among a Population-Based Sample of Younger Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2022 May 30;8(5):e37328. doi: 10.2196/37328.

  PMID: 35544437 DERIVED

Related Links

• Recent poll detailing levels of vaccine hesitancy among Canadians, including young Canadians.
• Summary of COVID-19 statistics in Canada

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Vaccination Refusal; Vaccination Hesitancy; COVID-19

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Treatment Refusal; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; Virus Diseases; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases

Limitations and Caveats

Several limitations presented themselves during study recruitment. COVID-19 vaccination rates amongst our target population (Canadian young adults) increased significantly, especially driven by vaccination mandates that were introduced in several provinces. This meant we were not able to reach our target sample size (2630 participants), preventing adequate power for calculations and the filling of our pre-specified sample quotas (limiting generalizability). Additional, we used self-reported data

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Ben Haward, Research Assistant
• Organization: Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research

ben.haward@ladydavis.ca

514-340-8222

Study Officials

• Zeev Rosberger, PhD

  Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: All data collection and group assignment will be conducted by the survey company, Dynata. Participants' intervention group assignments will be unavailable to the investigator.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Senior Investigator

Model Details: Participants will be assigned to either the video intervention or informational text control condition using a 1:1 randomization ratio.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2021
• First Posted: July 13, 2021
• Study Start: July 30, 2021
• Primary Completion: September 13, 2021
• Study Completion: September 13, 2021
• Last Updated: February 21, 2022
• Results First Posted: February 21, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)