JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Innovative approaches to the dissemination of evidence-based COVID-19 health messages are urgently needed to counter social media misinformation about the pandemic. To this end, we designed a short, wordless, animated, global health communication video (CoVideo) that was rapidly distributed through social media channels to an international audience.

Objective:

The objectives of this study were to: 1) Establish the CoVideo’s effectiveness in improving COVID-19 hygiene knowledge, and 2) Establish the CoVideo’s effectiveness in increasing behavioral intent toward COVID-19 hygiene.

Methods:

In May and June 2020, we enrolled 15,163 online participants from the United States of America, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. We randomized participants to (i) the CoVideo arm, (ii) an attention placebo control (APC) arm, and (iii) a do-nothing arm, and presented 18 knowledge questions about preventive COVID-19 behaviors, which was our first primary endpoint. To measure behavioral intent, our second primary endpoint, we randomized participants in each arm to five list experiments.

Results:

Globally, the video intervention was viewed 1.2 million times within the first 10 days of its release and more than 15 million times within the first four months. Knowledge in the CoVideo arm was significantly higher (mean = 16.95; 95% CI: 16.91, 16.99) than the APC (mean = 16.89; 95% CI: 16.86, 16.93; p = 0.024) and do-nothing (mean = 16.86; 95% CI: 16.83, 16.90; p < 0.001) arms. We observed high baseline levels of behavioral intent to perform many of the preventive behaviors featured in the video intervention. We were only able to detect a statistically significant impact of the CoVideo on one of the five preventive behaviors.

Conclusions:

Despite high baseline levels, the intervention was effective at boosting knowledge of COVID-19 prevention. We were only able to capture a measurable change in behavioral intent towards one of the five COVID-19 preventive behaviors examined in this study. The global reach of this health communication intervention and the high voluntary engagement of trial participants highlight several innovative features that could inform the design and dissemination of public health messages. Short, wordless, animated videos, distributed by health authorities via social media, may be an effective pathway for rapid global health communication during health crises. Clinical Trial: The study and its outcomes were registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (www.drks.de) on May 12th, 2020: #DRKS00021582.