Preferences of Vaccination for COVID-19 Among University Students and Staff: A Discrete Choice Experiment

From March 2021, COVID-19 vaccines have been made available to Hong Kong residents, first to priority groups including healthcare professionals and the elderly, and later to all adults and adolescents. Vaccinated individuals are generally exempted from mandatory regular out-of-pocket antigen testing. Vaccinated individuals of university halls and colleges of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) will also be exempted from mandatory weekly antigen testing. Freedom of choice is highly respected in the HKU community and as such, we would like to better understand the decision-making process among members of the HKU community. The anonymised results of this independent research study will help us understand preferences among the HKU community and inform on future vaccination planning policies.

Objectives: To elicit HKU staff and students' preferences and their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for COVID-19 vaccination in Hong Kong

Design: An online cross-sectional internet-based questionnaire with a discrete choice experiment (DCE) design distributed via email. All current students and staff from the University of Hong Kong are eligible to participate in the study

Main outcome measures: Preferences for the efficacy of protecting against infection, against severe disease manifestations, duration of protection, risk of adverse events, incentives, and out-of-pocket costs

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Preference, Patient

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 3423

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    • The University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

University students and staff working at university

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 18 years old
• Fluent in English
• Students and staff of The University of Hong Kong

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who are younger than 18 years old
• Individuals who are unwilling to give consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Other
• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Preferences for efficacy of protection against infection	At baseline
Preferences for efficacy of protection against severe disease manifestations	At baseline
Preferences for duration of protection	At baseline
Preferences for risk of adverse events	At baseline
Preferences for incentives	At baseline
Preferences for out-of-pocket cost	At baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 21, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 21, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): September 21, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 8, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 8, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): December 9, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 9, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 8, 2021
• Last Verified: December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: DCE_COVID-19

Drug and device information, study documents

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