Testing Interventions Designed to Improve How Members of the General Public Follow Instructions to Take Antibiotics

NCT07111754 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 7836387
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 7,000
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health challenge. Due to overuse of antibiotics, bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics, which creates infections that can't be treated by modern medicine. To combat AMR, the public need to both know that AMR is an issue and know what actions they can take to address AMR. When patients are prescribed antibiotics, the information provided (and how this is provided) is likely to be influential on whether they are taken correctly, or if behaviours that contribute to antimicrobial resistance (such as not finishing the course) predominate. This study, a large online experiment involving 7,000 people across the UK, aims explore the influence of what information and how it is provided. The study looks at different ways of presenting information on antibiotic packets-from clear instructions to warnings and even scannable QR codes with extra details. The main goals are to see if these changes can help participants understand how to take antibiotics exactly as prescribed. The investigators also want to see if it helps participants understand what antibiotic resistance is and their role in preventing it. By understanding what works best, the investigators hope to find simple, effective ways to help everyone use antibiotics wisely, protecting these vital medicines for the future.

Conditions

Antibiotic Use

Keywords

Antibiotics; Behaviour Change; Randomised controlled trial; Antibiotic Resistance; Antimicrobial Resistance

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Overall intent to take antibiotics as prescribed

  The proportion of Moderately, Very likely, or 'Yes' responses across the 4 measures of intent (taking one dose at a time, taking the full course, spacing the doses throughout the day, stopping when feeling better).

  During the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Proportion of correct responses on comprehension questions about antibiotic use

  During the intervention

Other Outcomes (6)

• Individual measures of intent to take antibiotics as prescribed

  During the intervention

• Do the interventions increase understanding that not taking antibiotics as prescribed contributes to AMR?

  During the intervention

• What is the effect of changing the messaging of the intervention on overall intent to take antibiotics as prescribed

  During the intervention

Study Arms (7)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control arm, with a picture of a typical antibiotic packet shown to participants

Behavioural Message - QR code

EXPERIMENTAL

Antibiotic packet with a QR code as the mechanism of delivery of the intervention, the intervention only contains information about the desired behaviour

Behavioral: Behavioural Message

Behavioural Message - Warning

EXPERIMENTAL

Antibiotic packet with a warning message on it as the mechanism of delivery of the intervention, the intervention only contains information about the desired behaviour

Behavioral: Behavioural Message

Behavioural message + positive framing - QR code

EXPERIMENTAL

Antibiotic packet with a QR code as the mechanism of delivery of the intervention, the intervention contains information about the desired behaviour and antimicrobial resistance (framed in a positive manner)

Behavioral: Behavioural message + positive framing

Behavioural message + positive framing - Warning

EXPERIMENTAL

Antibiotic packet with a warning message on it as the mechanism of delivery of the intervention, the intervention contains information about the desired behaviour and antimicrobial resistance (framed in a positive manner)

Behavioral: Behavioural message + positive framing

Behavioural message + negative framing - QR Code

EXPERIMENTAL

Antibiotic packet with a QR code as the mechanism of delivery of the intervention, the intervention contains information about the desired behaviour and antimicrobial resistance (framed in a negative manner)

Behavioral: Behavioural message + negative framing

Behavioural message + negative framing - Warning

EXPERIMENTAL

Antibiotic packet with a warning message on it as the mechanism of delivery of the intervention, the intervention contains information about the desired behaviour and antimicrobial resistance (framed in a negative manner)

Behavioral: Behavioural message + negative framing

Interventions

Behavioural Message BEHAVIORAL

Participants are presented with an image of an antibiotic packet, that contains information about the behaviour "take antibiotics exactly as prescribed". This can be delivered to participants via a QR code, or a warning message on the packet.

Behavioural Message - QR code; Behavioural Message - Warning

Behavioural message + positive framing BEHAVIORAL

Participants are presented with an image of an antibiotic packet, that contains information about the behaviour "take antibiotics exactly as prescribed" and information about AMR, framed in a positive manner. This can be delivered to participants via a QR code, or a warning message on the packet.

Behavioural message + positive framing - QR code; Behavioural message + positive framing - Warning

Behavioural message + negative framing BEHAVIORAL

Participants are presented with an image of an antibiotic packet, that contains information about the behaviour "take antibiotics exactly as prescribed" and information about AMR, framed in a negative manner. This can be delivered to participants via a QR code, or a warning message on the packet.

Behavioural message + negative framing - QR Code; Behavioural message + negative framing - Warning

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults aged 18 and over
• United Kingdom residents
• Have passed the attention check at the start of the online survey.

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals who are not signed up a market research panel and therefore will not have access to the online survey.
• Those resident outside the UK.
• Those who fail the attention check at the start of the online survey. Individuals aged under 18.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Imperial College London: lead
• The Behavioural Insights Team: collaborator

Study Officials

• Kate Grailey

  Imperial College London

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Kate Grailey, PhD

CONTACT

07912563290; k.grailey18@imperial.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The study intervention aims to change behavioural intent regarding the use of antibiotics. It is a 7 armed parallel randomised controlled trial

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 17, 2025
• First Posted: August 8, 2025
• Study Start: August 31, 2025
• Primary Completion: October 24, 2025
• Study Completion: March 1, 2026
• Last Updated: August 8, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share