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An Online Game to Help Canadian Adults Identify COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation With One-Month Follow-Up

NCT07758296 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 4071

Last updated 2026-08-11

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

COVID-19 vaccine misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy and preventable illness. This study tested whether a brief online game helps Canadian adults identify COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and whether effects last one month. In the game, participants judged whether statements about COVID-19 vaccines were true or false and immediately received the correct answer with a brief evidence-based explanation, delivered in a game-like format with points, ranks, and feedback. Adults from a national non-probability online panel (n = 4,071) were randomized to the game, to the identical corrective content presented as a static blog post, or to a no-activity control. The game and blog groups were assessed immediately after the activity; all three groups were reassessed approximately one month later. The hypothesis was that gamified corrective information would produce more accurate knowledge than the same information presented as a static blog post and, at one month, than no activity. The primary outcome was accuracy in identifying true and false claims; vaccination intention, vaccine confidence, and self-reported vaccination were secondary outcomes. This is the fourth study in a research program whose first three trials are registered in a companion record.

Conditions

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccination Hesitancy
  • Health Misinformation
  • Communication

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Gamified misinformation refutation quiz

Single-session online game in which participants judged a larger set of true/false statements about COVID-19 vaccines. Immediately after each response, participants received the correct answer and a brief evidence-based refutation within a gamified interface featuring points, ranks, and affective feedback. The game was administered in English or French. Six selected items from the game content were used in the survey-based knowledge outcome measure.

BEHAVIORAL

Refutational text blog post (active control)

Identical refutational content delivered as a static blog post with no game elements. Administered in English or French.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Digital Public Square

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)

    collaborator OTHER_GOV

  • University of South Carolina

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-12-08
Primary Completion
2023-02-13
Completion
2023-02-13

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07758296 on ClinicalTrials.gov