The Effect of a Planning Prompt on Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Rates

September 21, 2010 updated by: University of Pennsylvania
The investigators conducted a 3-arm randomized controlled trial to test whether a low-cost planning intervention could increase influence vaccination rates.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Seasonal influenza causes 20,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Past psychology research has demonstrated that prompting people to form an implementation plan of the form, "When situation x arises, I will implement response y," increases attainment of desired goals because the desired behavior is linked to a concrete future moment. This type of planning prompt is a "nudge" in the direction of desired behavior that can be implemented at minimal expense and does not restrict individual autonomy. We conducted a 3-arm randomized controlled trial to test whether a low-cost planning intervention could increase influence vaccination rates. We show that planning prompts can be successfully applied to improve health behaviors.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

3272

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • University of Pennsylvania

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Vaccine indications according to fall 2009 CDC criteria (age >= 50 or chronic disease
  • Employee at partner corporation that implemented the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Time Plan Condition
A basic reminder mailing prompted each subject to write down a planned date and time for getting their flu shot.
Behavioral: Planning Prompt
A prompt to write down a planned date (or date and time) for getting a flu shot
Experimental: Date Plan Condition
A basic reminder mailing prompted each subject to write down a planned date for getting their flu shot.
Behavioral: Planning Prompt
A prompt to write down a planned date (or date and time) for getting a flu shot
Active Comparator: Control Condition
A basic reminder mailing prompted each subject to receive a flu shot.
Behavioral: Control Condition
A basic reminder mailing prompted each subject to get their flu shot.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Receipt of 2009 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination
Time Frame: up to 30 weeks
up to 30 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

Yale University
Stanford University
Harvard University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Katherine L Milkman, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 20, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

September 22, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 22, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2010

Last Verified

September 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 810589-1

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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