Key messages
- A randomized trial shows that sending emails to recommend the flu vaccine increases the vaccination rate among recipients.
- Not all messages work: those who have received a reminder or a message emphasizing the benefits for cardiovascular health have been encouraged to undergo vaccination.
- The increase in vaccination rate is modest, but requiring minimal effort and being cheap and applicable on a large scale this intervention could be applied to different awareness campaigns.
Why it’s important
- Flu vaccination reduces infection and its complications.
- The vaccination rate remains suboptimal globally, even among high-risk older adults.
How the study was conducted
- The NUDGE-FLU study involved all Danes ≥65 years old (for whom the vaccine is free) except those admitted to health facilities or exempt from the obligation to be reachable by email.
- Participants were randomized into 10 groups; The former was sent a traditional letter recommending flu vaccination, the others were emailed via the government email system.
- 9 different contact methods were tested: standard message personalized or not with the name, reminder after 14 days from the first message, message in which the advantage of vaccination was emphasized («protect yourself and those you love»), the danger of the flu («the flu can spread and put you and your loved ones at risk»), the community effort («78% of Danes over 65 got vaccinated against the flu last year, help us overcome this milestone»), the benefits for cardiovascular health («in addition to protecting against infection by the virus, vaccination also seems to protect against cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and heart failure»), personal choice («We encourage you to write your appointment here: [white space]») or expert advice («I recommend everyone who is 65 years of age or older to get vaccinated against influenza — Tyra Grove Krause, executive vice-president of the State Serotherapy Institute»).
Main results
- Compared to the control group, vaccination rates were higher in the group that received the message emphasizing the cardiovascular benefits of vaccination, especially among the unvaccinated in the previous season (81% versus 80.12%; difference 0.89 points [99.55%CI 0.29-1.48]; P<0.0001) and in the one that received the reminder (80.85% against 80.12%; difference 0.73 points [0.13-1.34]; P=0.0006).
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Source — https://www.univadis.it/viewarticle/una-email-una-vaccinazione-pi%25C3%25B9-2023a10004ra
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