The Impact of a Chatbot on COVID-19 Vaccine Perceptions and Intentions in ESPERES Cohort (ESPERES-COVID-19-CHATBOT)
Condition: Healthcare Workers; Covid19
MeSH terms: COVID-19
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Vaccine hesitancy also concerns healthcare workers (HCWs). However, HCWs are at the frontline
      of the COVID-19 pandemic and identified as a priority target group for COVID-19 vaccines.
      Thus, the identification of interventions likely to improve COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and
      intentions among HCWs is of interests to increase the vaccine coverage among HCWs. The study
      hypothesis is that the use of the same chatbot as the one tested in the general population in
      France could also improve the COVID-19 vaccine intentions and perceptions in HCWs.
    

Detailed description: 
      Most countries face the issue of vaccine hesitancy, with sizeable fractions, or sometimes the
      majority, of the public opposing some vaccines. The problem is particularly acute in the case
      of COVID-19 vaccination: first, a high uptake of COVID-19 vaccines is necessary to reach and
      sustain herd immunity; second, and to the best of our knowledge, no country is currently
      planning on making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory, making public approval essential.
      Unfortunately, hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines is high in many countries. It is therefore
      crucial that health authorities make it as easy as possible for people who want to be
      vaccinated to do so, but also that they devise communication strategies to reassure vaccine
      hesitant individuals. A recent study performed in France (Altay S, et al. 2021) introduced a
      novel messaging strategy: the use of a chatbot that answers people's questions about COVID-19
      vaccines. Results suggest that a properly scripted and regularly updated chatbot could offer
      a powerful resource to help fight hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines.

      Vaccine hesitancy also concerns healthcare workers (HCWs). However, HCWs are at the frontline
      of the COVID-19 pandemic and identified as a priority target group for COVID-19 vaccines.
      Thus, the identification of tools likely to improve COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and intentions
      among HCWs is of interests to increase the vaccine coverage among HCWs. The study hypothesis
      is that the use of the same chatbot as the one tested in the general population in France
      could also improve the COVID-19 vaccine intentions and perceptions in HCWs.

      The primary objective will be to evaluate the short impact of the use of a chatbot on the
      evolution of the COVID-19 vaccine perceptions in HCWs.

      The secondary objectives will be:

        -  To evaluate the impact at 15-days of the use of a chatbot on the evolution of the
           COVID-19 vaccine perceptions in HCWs.

        -  To evaluate the short and at 15-days impact of the use of a chatbot on the evolution of
           the COVID-19 vaccine intentions in HCWs globally and by vaccine.

        -  To describe the chatbot connection rate, the interaction time with the chatbot and
           feedback from the device

      These objectives (primary and secondary) will be decline in the sub-groups of caregivers and
      non-caregivers.

      The study population will be made up of HCWs from the ESPERES cohort. For the purposes of
      this study, a "healthcare worker" is defined as an individual who currently works in a
      setting where individuals receive healthcare (i.e. individuals do not have to work directly
      with patients, but may have any role within a setting where individuals receive healthcare,
      such as administrative office, housekeeping, food service, etc.).

      It is a randomized, two-arm, open label, parallel trial. Participants will be asked to answer
      a new questionnaire on their COVID-19 vaccine intention and perception, 15 days after their
      inclusion in the ESPERES cohort. Participants in ESPERES cohort who meet the eligibility
      criteria for the trial evaluating the chatbot will be randomized into 2 arms: access to the
      chatbot (intervention group) or access to simple information (control group). Randomization
      will be carried out at a 1:1 ratio, on blocks of four, stratified on the
      caregiver/non-caregiver group and the health facility. Randomization will be done online
      which ensures allocation concealment. Depending on the randomization group, participants
      access the chatbot or simple information. They can consult them as long as they wish.
      Participants will be contacted immediately after the first connection to the chatbot and
      again 15-days later to complete questionnaires on their COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and
      perception.

      The statistical analyses planned in the research protocol and those responding to specific
      subsequent studies nested in ESPERES and validated by the scientific committee, will be
      performed by the pharmaco-epidemiology center (CEPHEPI), under the responsibility of Dr
      Candice ESTELLAT and Pr Florence TUBACH. The CEPHEPI is backed by the public health
      department of the hospital group Pitié-Salpêtrière - Charles Foix, AP-HP.
    

Intervention name(s): Chatbot on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy; Control intervention
Intervention type(s): Device; Other
Intervention description(s): This intervention will provide to participants information on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy consisting of the possibility of accessing a long series of questions and answers online about this vaccination.; This control intervention will provide to participants a brief text decribing the way vaccines works.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research