tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Rep
. 2025 Mar 15;15(1):8955.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-92731-0. Debunking COVID-19 vaccine misinformation with an audio drama in Ghana, a randomized control trial
Maike Winters[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sarah Christie[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Hannah Melchinger[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Iddi Iddrisu[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Hudi Al Hassan[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Eulette Ewart[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lateefah Mosley[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Rabiu Alhassan[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Ndeeya Shani[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Dela Nyamuame[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Chelsey Lepage[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Angus Thomson[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Anastasiia Nurzhynska Atif[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Saad B Omer[SUP] 9 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has hampered their uptake worldwide. In Ghana, a belief that COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility is prevalent and difficult to counter. UNICEF Ghana co-produced a context-driven, behavioral science-based audio drama ('A shot of love') that aimed to debunk this misinformation narrative. In a randomized controlled trial, 13,000 young adults who had previously interacted with UNICEF's Agoo platform were randomized to either control (audio about nutrition) or intervention (audio drama debunking the COVID-19 misinformation). We found that the intervention had a strong protective effect against belief in misinformation, both directly after listening to the audio drama (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 0.45, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.34-0.59) as well as at the one-month follow-up (aOR 0.66, 95% CI 0.49-0.91). Similarly, the intervention had a strong effect on perceived safety of the COVID-19 vaccines directly after listening to the audio drama (aOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.22-2.00) and at one-month follow-up (aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.13-2.07). Overall, our behavioral science-based, context-driven audio drama was effective in reducing the strength of belief in COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and increasing the perceived safety of the vaccines in Ghana.
. 2025 Mar 15;15(1):8955.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-92731-0. Debunking COVID-19 vaccine misinformation with an audio drama in Ghana, a randomized control trial
Maike Winters[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sarah Christie[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Hannah Melchinger[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Iddi Iddrisu[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Hudi Al Hassan[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Eulette Ewart[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lateefah Mosley[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Rabiu Alhassan[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Ndeeya Shani[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Dela Nyamuame[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Chelsey Lepage[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Angus Thomson[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Anastasiia Nurzhynska Atif[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Saad B Omer[SUP] 9 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40089600
- PMCID: PMC11910525
- DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-92731-0
Misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has hampered their uptake worldwide. In Ghana, a belief that COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility is prevalent and difficult to counter. UNICEF Ghana co-produced a context-driven, behavioral science-based audio drama ('A shot of love') that aimed to debunk this misinformation narrative. In a randomized controlled trial, 13,000 young adults who had previously interacted with UNICEF's Agoo platform were randomized to either control (audio about nutrition) or intervention (audio drama debunking the COVID-19 misinformation). We found that the intervention had a strong protective effect against belief in misinformation, both directly after listening to the audio drama (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 0.45, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.34-0.59) as well as at the one-month follow-up (aOR 0.66, 95% CI 0.49-0.91). Similarly, the intervention had a strong effect on perceived safety of the COVID-19 vaccines directly after listening to the audio drama (aOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.22-2.00) and at one-month follow-up (aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.13-2.07). Overall, our behavioral science-based, context-driven audio drama was effective in reducing the strength of belief in COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and increasing the perceived safety of the vaccines in Ghana.