Nudging towards COVID-19 and influenza vaccination uptake in medically at-risk children: EPIC study protocol of randomised controlled trials in Australian paediatric outpatient clinics
Helen Marshall,
Jonathan Karnon,
Jennifer Couper,
Christopher C Blyth,
Samantha Carlson,
Jason Ong,
Jodie M Dodd,
Ivo Vlaev,
Nicholas Wood,
Margaret Danchin,
Bing Wang,
Gustaaf Dekker,
Thomas R Sullivan,
Lisa J Whop,
Nicola Spurrier,
Michael Cusack,
Jane Tuckerman,
Prabha Andraweera,
Dylan Mordaunt,
Dimi Simatos
Affiliations
Helen Marshall
2 Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Jonathan Karnon
11 College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Jennifer Couper
Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Christopher C Blyth
Department of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEIIMC), Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Samantha Carlson
Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute and School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Jason Ong
Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Jodie M Dodd
Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Ivo Vlaev
School of Business, Warwick University, Warwick, UK
Nicholas Wood
Discipline of Paediatrics, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Margaret Danchin
Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Bing Wang
1 Vaccinology and Immunology Research Trials Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Gustaaf Dekker
Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Thomas R Sullivan
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Lisa J Whop
Discipline of Public Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Nicola Spurrier
SA Health, South Australian Government, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Michael Cusack
SA Health, South Australian Government, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Jane Tuckerman
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Prabha Andraweera
1 Vaccinology and Immunology Research Trials Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Dylan Mordaunt
Discipline of Paediatrics, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Dimi Simatos
Discipline of Paediatrics Lyell McEwin Hospital, Elizabeth Vale, South Australia, Australia
Introduction Children with chronic medical diseases are at an unacceptable risk of hospitalisation and death from influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections. Over the past two decades, behavioural scientists have learnt how to design non-coercive ‘nudge’ interventions to encourage positive health behaviours. Our study aims to evaluate the impact of multicomponent nudge interventions on the uptake of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines in medically at-risk children.Methods and analyses Two separate randomised controlled trials (RCTs), each with 1038 children, will enrol a total of approximately 2076 children with chronic medical conditions who are attending tertiary hospitals in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria. Participants will be randomly assigned (1:1) to the standard care or intervention group. The nudge intervention in each RCT will consist of three text message reminders with four behavioural nudges including (1) social norm messages, (2) different messengers through links to short educational videos from a paediatrician, medically at-risk child and parent and nurse, (3) a pledge to have their child or themselves vaccinated and (4) information salience through links to the current guidelines and vaccine safety information. The primary outcome is the proportion of medically at-risk children who receive at least one dose of vaccine within 3 months of randomisation. Logistic regression analysis will be performed to determine the effect of the intervention on the probability of vaccination uptake.Ethics and dissemination The protocol and study documents have been reviewed and approved by the Women’s and Children’s Health Network Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/22/WCHN/2022/00082). The results will be published via peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings and public forums.Trial registration number NCT05613751.
