Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37267399›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2023

Testing persuasive messages about booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines on intention to vaccinate in Australian adults: A randomised controlled trial.

Maryke S Steffens, Bianca Bullivant, Jessica Kaufman, Catherine King, Margie Danchin, Monsurul Hoq, Mathew D Marques

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Maryke S SteffensNational Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Kids Research, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, NSW, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4720-3986
Bianca BullivantNational Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Kids Research, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Jessica KaufmanVaccine Uptake Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Catherine KingNational Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, Kids Research, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
Margie DanchinVaccine Uptake Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Monsurul HoqVaccine Uptake Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Mathew D MarquesSchool of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-5486-650X
The University of Sydney · AURoyal Children's Hospital · AULa Trobe University · AUThe University of Melbourne · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAchieving high COVID-19 vaccine booster coverage is an ongoing global challenge. Health authorities need evidence about effective communication interventions to improve acceptance and uptake. This study aimed to test effects of persuasive messages about COVID-19 vaccine booster doses on intention to vaccinate amongst eligible adults in Australia.

methodsIn this online randomised controlled trial, adult participants received one of four intervention messages or a control message. The control message provided information about booster dose eligibility. Intervention messages added to the control message, each using a different persuasive strategy, including: emphasising personal health benefits of booster doses, community health benefits, non-health benefits, and personal agency in choosing vaccination. After the intervention, participants answered items about COVID-19 booster vaccine intention and beliefs. Intervention groups were compared to the control using tests of two proportions; differences of ≥5 percentage points were deemed clinically significant. A sub-group analysis was conducted among hesitant participants.

resultsOf the 487 consenting and randomised participants, 442 (90.8%) completed the experiment and were included in the analysis. Participants viewing messages emphasising non-health benefits had the highest intention compared to those who viewed the control message (percentage point diff: 9.0, 95% CI -0.8, 18.8, p = 0.071). Intention was even higher among hesitant individuals in this intervention group compared to the control group (percentage point diff: 15.6, 95% CI -6.0, 37.3, p = 0.150). Conversely, intention was lower among hesitant individuals who viewed messages emphasising personal agency compared to the control group (percentage point diff: -10.8, 95% CI -33.0, 11.4, p = 0.330), although evidence in support of these findings is weak.

conclusionHealth authorities should highlight non-health benefits to encourage COVID-19 vaccine booster uptake but use messages emphasising personal agency with caution. These findings can inform communication message development and strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccine booster uptake. Clinical trial registration: Registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12622001404718); trial webpage: https://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12622001404718.aspx.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesVaccinationAdultAustralasian PeopleAustraliaHumansImmunization, SecondaryIntentionPersuasive CommunicationCOVID-19 Vaccines

Identifiers

PMID37267399
PMCPMC10237633
OpenAlexW4379114690

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.