Organization: Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE2RO)
Study objective: To compare changes in intentions to receive LEN following misinformation exposure in groups with and without psychological inoculation and behavioural economics boost.
Intervention & evaluation description:
Formative work: We will conduct a ranking survey to identify the most concerning misinformation claims among young women. Using results from this survey, we will co-design inoculation messages with young women that will be tested in the randomised controlled trial.
Randomised controlled trial of inoculation messages: This will be a two-arm RCT of psychological inoculation messages designed to counter misinformation about LEN.
- Intervention group: Participants will receive inoculation messages in video format that warns about misinformation and pre-bunk false LEN claims
- Attention control group: Participants will view health information videos unrelated to LEN, of the same length and format as the inoculation videos.
All participants will:
- Complete a post-intervention survey
- Receive a debriefing statement which clarifies that the misinformation they were exposed to was false
- May be invited to complete a follow-up survey after 2-6 weeks to measure persistence of intervention effects
Study outcomes:
Primary Outcome:
- Intention to receive LEN following exposure to misinformation
Secondary Outcomes:
- Intention to receive LEN 2-6 weeks following the exposure
- Believability and persuasiveness of misinformation
- Interest in sharing misinformation and motivational threat associated with misinformation
- Subgroup effects by relevant sociodemographic and behavioural factors
Study site: The study will be conducted in Gauteng, South Africa.
Target population:
Formative work
Inclusion criteria:
- Female, aged 18–29 years
- Able to read and understand English
- Willing and able to provide informed consent
Exclusion criteria:
- Unwilling or unable to provide consent
- Unavailable to complete study procedures
Randomised controlled trial of inoculation messages
Inclusion criteria:
- Female (cisgender or transgender)
- Age 18-29 years
- Self-reported history of sexual activity in the past 12 months
- Self-reported HIV-negative status or unknown HIV status at enrolment
- Willing and able to provide consent
- Able to read and understand English
Exclusion criteria:
- Unwilling or unable to provide consent for study participation
Study population:
For the formative work: we will enroll up to 1,000 young women from the B-Hub.
For the RCT: we will enroll about 1500 young women in the study.
Duration: 18 months
