Social Media as an Information, Education and Communication Tool for Rabies Prevention: An Interventional Study

Maulana Azad Medical College

Status: Completed

Conditions: Public Health; Preventive Health Services; Rabies; Health Education

Treatments: Other: Rabies Information Education and Communication Material

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05702008

F.1/IEC/MAMC/90/02/2022/No.112

Details and patient eligibility

About

Background: Rabies is a fatal disease that can be avoided by treating animal bites promptly. Hence, post-exposure prophylaxis is critical. As a result, the National Rabies Control Program was approved under the 12th five-year plan in India. One of its strategies is to engage in Information, Education and Communication activities. Social media provides an opportunity for the quick and easy dissemination of research but is constrained by a lack of peer review and the risk of misinterpretation. The efficacy of a novel social media-based knowledge dissemination strategy for rabies prevention was tested in this study.

Methods: An experimental study design was followed, wherein 144 preclinical medical students of Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, India were included in each control and test group. The test group was administered the intervention, which exposed the participants to health education material via social media across a span of 30 days. Participants' knowledge, attitude and practices were observed before and after the study duration.

Enrollment: 300 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• adult individuals who have a smartphone, internet access and are WhatsApp users
• preclinical medical students, i.e., Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) 1st and 2nd professional year students

Exclusion criteria

• individuals who themselves have been a dog bite or rabies victim
• individuals who have a dog bite or rabies victim in the household
• individuals who developed the above criteria during the study duration were excluded from the data analysis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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300 participants in 2 patient groups

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

The participants in this study arm were administered no intervention.

Test Group

Experimental group

Description:

The participants in this arm were administered the following intervention: The test group was administered the rabies IEC material available on the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) website (https://ncdc.gov.in/index1.php?page=1\&ipp=All\&lang=1\&level=2\&sublinkid=502\&lid=428) in English and Hindi languages using a WhatsApp broadcast every 3 days for 30 days, in a cyclical manner. This material includes brochures, posters, short films, and informative documents designed to educate the general public about rabies prevention and post-exposure prophylaxis practices. Text messages, encouraging the participants to go through the material, were also a part of this intervention.

Treatment:

Other: Rabies Information Education and Communication Material