%0 Journal Article
%@ 2369-2960
%I JMIR Publications
%V 8
%N 5
%P e37328
%T The Efficacy of a Brief, Altruism-Eliciting Video Intervention in Enhancing COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions Among a Population-Based Sample of Younger Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial
%A Zhu,Patricia
%A Tatar,Ovidiu
%A Griffin-Mathieu,Gabrielle
%A Perez,Samara
%A Haward,Ben
%A Zimet,Gregory
%A Tunis,Matthew
%A Dubé,Ève
%A Rosberger,Zeev
%+ Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 4333 Cote Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal, QC, H3T1E4, Canada, 1 514 340 8222 ext 23978, ovidiu.tatar@mail.mcgill.ca
%K COVID-19
%K vaccination
%K altruism
%K prosocial motives
%K video intervention
%K randomized controlled trial
%K younger adults
%K vaccine hesitancy
%K public health
%K youth
%K digital intervention
%K health intervention
%K health promotion
%K web survey
%K digital health
%K online health
%K health information
%D 2022
%7 30.5.2022
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Public Health Surveill
%G English
%X Background: High COVID-19 vaccine uptake is crucial to containing the pandemic and reducing hospitalizations and deaths. Younger adults (aged 20-39 years) have demonstrated lower levels of vaccine uptake compared to older adults, while being more likely to transmit the virus due to a higher number of social contacts. Consequently, this age group has been identified by public health authorities as a key target for vaccine uptake. Previous research has demonstrated that altruistic messaging and motivation is associated with vaccine acceptance. Objective: This study had 2 objectives: (1) to evaluate the within-group efficacy of an altruism-eliciting short, animated video intervention in increasing COVID-19 vaccination intentions amongst unvaccinated Canadian younger adults and (2) to examine the video’s efficacy compared to a text-based intervention focused exclusively on non-vaccine-related COVID-19 preventive health measures. Methods: Using a web-based survey in a pre-post randomized control trial (RCT) design, we recruited Canadians aged 20-39 years who were not yet vaccinated against COVID-19 and randomized them in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the video intervention or an active text control. The video intervention was developed by our team in collaboration with a digital media company. The measurement of COVID-19 vaccination intentions before and after completing their assigned intervention was informed by the multistage Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM). The McNemar chi-square test was performed to evaluate within-group changes of vaccine intentions. Exact tests of symmetry using pairwise McNemar tests were applied to evaluate changes in multistaged intentions. Between-group vaccine intentions were assessed using the Pearson chi-square test postintervention. Results: Analyses were performed on 1373 participants (n=686, 50%, in the video arm, n=687, 50%, in the text arm). Within-group results for the video intervention arm showed that there was a significant change in the intention to receive the vaccine (χ21=20.55, P<.001). The between-group difference in postintervention intentions (χ23=1.70, P=.64) was not significant. When administered the video intervention, we found that participants who had not thought about or were undecided about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were more amenable to change than participants who had already decided not to vaccinate. Conclusions: Although the video intervention was limited in its effect on those who had firmly decided not to vaccinate, our study demonstrates that prosocial and altruistic messages could increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake, especially when targeted to younger adults who are undecided or unengaged regarding vaccination. This might indicate that altruistic messaging provides a “push” for those who are tentative toward, or removed from, the decision to receive the vaccine. The results of our study could also be applied to more current COVID-19 vaccination recommendations (eg, booster shots) and for other vaccine-preventable diseases. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04960228; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04960228 
%M 35544437
%R 10.2196/37328
%U https://publichealth.jmir.org/2022/5/e37328
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/37328
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35544437