Clinical trial NCT04590066: Testing Multiple Behavioral Science Strategies to Increase Flu-Shot Rates at a Large Retail Pharmacy
Official title: Testing Multiple Behavioral Science Strategies to Increase Flu-Shot Rates at a Large Retail Pharmacy
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Influenza, Human
Keywords: Influenza vaccination
behavioral science interventions
vaccination promotion
Lead sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-10-19
Enrollment: 734383
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomly assigned to the different arms.
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: This research aims to identify which behavioral science strategies are most effective at increasing flu vaccination rates overall and based on patients' individual characteristics. Past behavioral science interventions have shown promise in increasing flu vaccinations. For example, successful interventions have encouraged people to make concrete plans for when they will get a flu vaccination, sent automated calls or text messages reminding patients to get a flu vaccination , or provided financial incentives for getting vaccinated. Although these results are promising, these studies have been conducted in isolation on different populations, which makes it difficult to compare their interventions' effectiveness or to have enough power to reliably detect differing responses to interventions based on individual characteristics.

This research will simultaneously test 22 different SMS interventions to increase flu vaccinations compared to a holdout control condition in a "mega-study" and apply machine learning to identify which interventions work best for whom. The interventions are designed by behavioral science experts from the Behavior Change for Good Initiative (BCFG), Penn Medicine Nudge Unit (PMNU), and Geisinger Behavioral Insights Team (BIT). Customers of a large retail pharmacy who received a flu shot from the pharmacy last year and receive SMS notifications will be included in this study. We expect this to include approximately 1.2 million participants.

The specific aims of this research are to identify (1) which behavioral science strategies effectively increase flu vaccination rates overall, and (2) which strategies are most effective for different subgroups (e.g., based on age, gender, race).


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Have agreed to receive SMS messages from the pharmacy
2. Received a flu shot from the pharmacy in the 2019-2020 flu season, as documented in their pharmacy records.

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Primary outcomes:
measure: Whether participants receive a flu shot vaccination at our pharmacy partner by December 31, 2020
timeFrame: 98 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Whether participants receive a flu shot vaccination at our pharmacy partner by October 31, 2020
timeFrame: 37 days
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: University of Pennsylvania
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
References:
citation: Cutrona SL, Golden JG, Goff SL, Ogarek J, Barton B, Fisher L, Preusse P, Sundaresan D, Garber L, Mazor KM. Improving Rates of Outpatient Influenza Vaccination Through EHR Portal Messages and Interactive Automated Calls: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 May;33(5):659-667. doi: 10.1007/s11606-017-4266-9. Epub 2018 Jan 30.
citation: Milkman KL, Beshears J, Choi JJ, Laibson D, Madrian BC. Using implementation intentions prompts to enhance influenza vaccination rates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Jun 28;108(26):10415-20. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1103170108. Epub 2011 Jun 13.
citation: Regan AK, Bloomfield L, Peters I, Effler PV. Randomized Controlled Trial of Text Message Reminders for Increasing Influenza Vaccination. Ann Fam Med. 2017 Nov;15(6):507-514. doi: 10.1370/afm.2120.
citation: Nowalk MP, Lin CJ, Toback SL, Rousculp MD, Eby C, Raymund M, Zimmerman RK. Improving influenza vaccination rates in the workplace: a randomized trial. Am J Prev Med. 2010 Mar;38(3):237-46. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2009.11.011. Epub 2009 Dec 24.