Interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy among adolescents: a cluster-randomized trial

Abstract

School interventions targeting adolescents’ general knowledge of vaccination are rare despite their potential to reduce vaccine hesitancy. This cluster-randomized trial involving 8,589 French ninth graders from 399 schools tests two interventions against the standard curriculum. The first provided teachers with ready-to-use pedagogical activities, while the second used a chatbot. Both interventions significantly improved adolescents’ attitudes towards vaccination, the primary outcome of this trial (Pedagogical Activities: t₃₉₈ = 2.99; P = 0.003; β = 0.094; 95% confidence interval (CI), (0.032, 0.156); Chatbot: t₃₉₈ = 2.07; P = 0.039; β = 0.063; 95% CI, (0.003, 0.124)). Both also improved pupils’ knowledge of vaccination (Pedagogical Activities: t₃₉₈ = 3.23; P = 0.0013; β = 0.103; 95% CI, (0.040, 0.165); Chatbot: t₃₉₈ = 2.23; P = 0.027; β = 0.070; 95% CI, (0.008, 0.132)). That such interventions can improve pupils’ acceptance and understanding of vaccines has important consequences for public health.