Building Cognitive Resilience to Vaccine Misinformation Using AI: Evidence From a Randomised Trial

NCT07488962 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: LSHTM329232025-KEP-1223
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,000
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This study aims to understand how parents and caregivers in the United Kingdom engage with information about childhood vaccination (routine vaccines for children and adolescents, excluding tetanus or international travel-related vaccines) and how tailored digital health tools can help address childhood vaccine misinformation.

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

childhood vaccine; AI; chatbot; randomized controlled trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Parental susceptibility to misinformation about childhood vaccination

  The primary outcome of this study will assess parental susceptibility to misinformation about childhood vaccination, defined as parents' ability to accurately distinguish between true and false vaccine-related information. This will be measured using ten statements on childhood vaccines, including four true and six false, rumour-related statements. Two of the rumour-related statements correspond to each of the three misinformation tactics introduced by the chatbot and the UNICEF infographic. This measure reflects parents' ability to identify misinformation containing manipulation tactics they were inoculated against and to distinguish true from false information regarding childhood vaccination. Responses will be recorded as "True", "False", or "Don't know". A composite misinformation susceptibility score will be calculated based on the number of correct responses, with higher scores indicating greater ability to identify vaccine misinformation accurately.

  From enrollment to the endpoint assessment immediately following the intervention during the same survey session (approximately 20-30 minutes)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Self-efficacy

  From enrollment to the endpoint assessment immediately following the intervention during the same survey session (approximately 20-30 minutes)

Study Arms (2)

AI-driven chatbot

EXPERIMENTAL

An interactive, web-based, AI-driven chatbot intervention designed to counter vaccine misinformation. It can be accessed via a personal computer, tablet, or mobile device through a web- browser link.

Behavioral: AI-driven chatbot

Social media infographic

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

A UNICEF social media infographic with three "myth vs. fact" statements on vaccination that correspond to the same misinformation tactics explained by the MindShield chatbot.

Behavioral: Social media infographic

Interventions

AI-driven chatbot BEHAVIORAL

A tailored AI-driven chatbot designed to counter vaccine misinformation.

AI-driven chatbot

Social media infographic BEHAVIORAL

A UNICEF social media infographic with three "myth vs. fact" statements on vaccination.

Social media infographic

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Parents or primary caregivers of at least one child under 18 years of age in the UK who is able to answer questions about their child's vaccination status;
• Those who have basic literacy in English;
• Those who have regular access to a digital device and the internet; and
• Those who provide informed consent and agree to participate in the trial

You may not qualify if:

• Those who have a visual/reading disability that could prevent their participation in or completion of the study activities

Sponsors & Collaborators

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: lead
• The University of Hong Kong: collaborator

Central Study Contacts

Leesa Lin, PhD

CONTACT

+44 (0)20 7636 8636; Leesa.Lin@lshtm.ac.uk

Kana Kobayashi, MSPH

CONTACT

Kana.Kobayashi@lshtm.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 9, 2026
• First Posted: March 23, 2026
• Study Start: March 1, 2026
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2026
• Study Completion: March 1, 2026
• Last Updated: March 23, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03