Discussing COVID-19 Vaccines in Private Facebook Groups

• Sponsor: George Washington University (Other)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT05422898
• Collaborator: (none)
• Enrollment: 508
• Location: 1
• Arms: 2
• Actual Duration (Months): 2.5
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 200.8

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, a sizable proportion of the U.S. population remains unvaccinated and at high risk of death and serious illness from COVID-19. Vaccine hesitancy, fueled by the proliferation of vaccine misinformation on social media, is one factor contributing to lack of vaccination. Current attempts to overcome vaccine misinformation focus on correcting or debunking falsehoods. Although debunking strategies are important components to any public health campaign, communications must also address rationales for vaccine hesitancy that vary among individuals and communities, and directly address the gist of their concerns in an empathetic, non-judgmental manner. We will conduct a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of empathic, relationship-building interactions relative to standard provision of information on social media to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
COVID-19	Behavioral: Gist messages on COVID-19 vaccination; Behavioral: COVID-19 vaccine information	N/A

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Actual Enrollment: 508 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Official Title: Empathic Engagement With the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitant in Private Facebook Groups
• Actual Study Start Date: Jan 17, 2022
• Actual Primary Completion Date: Apr 4, 2022
• Actual Study Completion Date: Apr 4, 2022

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Gist Gist-based messages on COVID-19 vaccination and moderated group discussions in a private Facebook group	Behavioral: Gist messages on COVID-19 vaccination; Participants will receive gist-based messages on COVID-19 vaccines and have their concerns addressed by a group moderator
Placebo Comparator: Information Link to Facebook COVID-19 Information Center	Behavioral: COVID-19 vaccine information; Participants will receive a link to the Facebook COVID-19 Information Center via a private Facebook Group

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Engagement and satisfaction with the program [4 weeks]

   Engagement includes participation in the Facebook group; satisfaction=self-rated overall satisfaction with the program (7-point scale)

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. Proportion of participants getting the COVID-19 vaccine [4 weeks]

   self-reported vaccination status

2. Change in COVID-19 vaccination intention [4 weeks]

   Self-reported intention to get the COVID-19 vaccine (7-point scale)

3. Change in intention to encourage others to get the COVID-19 vaccine [4 weeks]

   Self-reported intention to encourage others to get the COVID-19 vaccine (7-point scale)

4. Change in COVID-19 vaccine confidence [4 weeks]

   Self-reported confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine (5-point scale)

5. Change in general vaccine confidence [4 weeks]

   Self-reported confidence in vaccines (7-point scale)

6. Change in vaccine hesitancy [4 weeks]

   Self-reported vaccine hesitancy (7-point scale

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years and Older
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• reside in the U.S.

• unvaccinated from COVID-19

• Use Facebook regularly (at least 1/day)

Exclusion Criteria:

• age <18 years

• do not reside in the U.S.

• vaccinated from COVID-19

• do not use Facebook regularly (at least 1/day)

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	George Washington University	Washington	District of Columbia	United States	20052

Sponsors and Collaborators

• George Washington University

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• Responsible Party: George Washington University
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05422898
• Other Study ID Numbers: NCR213861
• First Posted: Jun 21, 2022
• Last Update Posted: Jun 21, 2022
• Last Verified: Jun 1, 2022

• Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement: No
• Plan to Share IPD: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No
• Keywords provided by George Washington University: vaccine hesitancy; social media; health behavior
• Additional relevant MeSH terms: COVID-19

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Jun 21, 2022