Limits of the Social Benefit Motive Among High-risk Patients: a Field Experiment on Influenza Vaccination Behaviour

Limits of the Social Benefit Motive Among High-risk Patients: a Field Experiment on Influenza

Influenza vaccine uptake remains low worldwide, inflicting substantial costs to public health and health systems. Messages promoting social welfare have been shown to increase vaccination intentions, and it has been recommended that health professionals communicate the socially beneficial aspects of vaccination. This study aims to provide the first test whether this prosocial vaccination hypothesis applies to the actual vaccination behaviour of high-risk patients by comparing the effects of two motivational messages for promoting vaccination at a tertiary care public hospital in Istanbul, Turkey.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Influenza Vaccine; Behavioral Intervention; Self-benefit; Social-benefit
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Self-benefit message; Behavioral: Other-benefit message

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 244
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Istanbul, Turkey, 34098
    • SB Istanbul Training and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients hospitalized at medical departments of the hospital who are on the day of discharge

Exclusion Criteria:

• Egg ellergy
• Previous allergic reaction to influenza vaccine
• Pregnancy
• Cognitive disability

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Self-benefit arm	Behavioral: Self-benefit message; A pamphlet consisting of a short text and an abstract figure. The top half of the pamphlet described the official criteria for qualifying to be in the risk group. Bottom half indicated that one can gain immunity against influenza by getting the vaccine and included a figure of one smiley face.
Active Comparator: Social-benefit arm	Behavioral: Other-benefit message; A pamphlet consisting of a short text and an abstract figure. The top half of the pamphlet described the official criteria for qualifying to be in the risk group. Bottom half indicated that one can gain immunity against influenza by getting the vaccine, and gaining immunity would lower the chances of transmitting the disease to others. The figure included one smiley face surrounded by three other smiley faces.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vaccine uptake following the introduction of the pamphlet	Difference in the number of patients in each arm who agree to receive influenza vaccine following the introduction of the pamphlet. The first half of the pamphlet contains information about the the influenza vaccine and the risk groups who are vulnerable to influenza-associated serious diseases. The second half introduces the self-benefit message. And the final part asks if the participant wants to receive the influenza vaccine now.	On the same day, upto 24 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vaccine uptake in high and low risk group patients following the introduction of the pamphlet	Vaccine uptake in high and low risk group patients. The first half of the pamphlet contains information about the the influenza vaccine and the risk groups who are vulnerable to influenza-associated serious diseases. The second half introduces the social-benefit message. And the final part asks if the participant wants to receive the influenza vaccine now.	On the same day, upto 24 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: SB Istanbul Education and Research Hospital
• Collaborators: University of Nottingham

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Isler O, Isler B, Kopsacheilis O, Ferguson E. Limits of the social-benefit motive among high-risk patients: a field experiment on influenza vaccination behaviour. BMC Public Health. 2020 Feb 17;20(1):240. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8246-3.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 13, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 25, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): March 25, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): January 18, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 18, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2020
• Last Verified: January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Orthomyxoviridae Infections; Influenza, Human
• Other Study ID Numbers: 855 - 21/10/2016

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No