Communication Strategies to Increase HPV Vaccination Intention

June 2, 2026 updated by: Florence Momplaisir, Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Testing Communication Strategies to Increase HPV Vaccination Intention: A Survey Experiment

This research aims to identify communication strategies to improve the uptake of vaccines using an experimental design, focusing on the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which is highly effective in preventing HPV-related cancers. However, low HPV vaccination rates among adults remain a significant public health challenge. Although randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated that interventions can increase vaccine uptake in children, few RCTs have been conducted on adults. To address this gap, a multidisciplinary investigative team with expertise in communication, medicine, nursing, and behavior-change intervention research, and a history of extensive collaboration, will conduct a survey experiment on a national sample of over 3,689 adults to identify the most promising theory-based messages to strengthen HPV vaccine intentions.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

5337

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-45 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Under 18 and over 45 years old
  • Received HPV vaccine or unsure about receipt

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: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Theory-Based Message Condition 1
Behavioral: Messages
We will randomly assign participants in equal numbers to one of five theory-based HPV vaccine message conditions or an attention-matched control arm.
Experimental: Theory-Based Message Condition 2
Behavioral: Messages
We will randomly assign participants in equal numbers to one of five theory-based HPV vaccine message conditions or an attention-matched control arm.
Experimental: Theory-Based Message Condition 3
Behavioral: Messages
We will randomly assign participants in equal numbers to one of five theory-based HPV vaccine message conditions or an attention-matched control arm.
Experimental: Theory-Based Message Condition 4
Behavioral: Messages
We will randomly assign participants in equal numbers to one of five theory-based HPV vaccine message conditions or an attention-matched control arm.
Experimental: Theory-Based Message Condition 5
Behavioral: Messages
We will randomly assign participants in equal numbers to one of five theory-based HPV vaccine message conditions or an attention-matched control arm.
Active Comparator: Theory-Based Message Condition 6
Behavioral: Messages
We will randomly assign participants in equal numbers to one of five theory-based HPV vaccine message conditions or an attention-matched control arm.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intention to Vaccinate
Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention
Validated 3-item likert scale assessing HPV vaccination intention.
Immediately after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

Collaborators

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 (Actual)

February 6, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 15, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 12, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 16, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 20, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 2, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • UPCC 02026
  • 856892 (Other Identifier: University of Pennsylvania IRB)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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