Contagious Misinformation Trial (CMT)

Karolinska Institute

Status: Completed

Conditions: Misinformation

Treatments: Behavioral: Control group audio jingles; Behavioral: Debunking Misinformation through Audio Dramas

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04112680

CMT2019

Details and patient eligibility

About

In the Contagious Misinformation Trial the investigators aim to debunk prevalent misinformation about an infectious disease using two evidence-based methods of debunking. The two debunking methods are packaged in two audio dramas of 4 episodes each, which will be sent to the WhatsApp of participants who are randomised to intervention group 1 or 2. The control group will receive audio messages about a different topic. The primary outcome is the reduction in belief in two misinformation statements about the infectious diseases.

Enrollment: 750 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults
• Living in Freetown
• In possession of a mobile phone that has WhatsApp
• Fluent in Krio

Exclusion criteria

• Deafness

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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750 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Intervention group 1

Experimental group

Description:

Audio messages in this group are focussed on providing a Plausible Alternative to the misinformation

Treatment:

Behavioral: Debunking Misinformation through Audio Dramas

Intervention group 2

Experimental group

Description:

Audio messages in this group focus on Avoiding the Misinformation and instead only provide the correct information

Treatment:

Behavioral: Debunking Misinformation through Audio Dramas

Control group

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Audio messages in this control group are on a different topic

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control group audio jingles