Using Short-Form Videos to Get Clinical Trial Newcomers to Sign Up: Message-Testing Experiment

Area of Science:

• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Health Communication
• Clinical Trial Recruitment

Background:

• Clinical trial recruitment faces significant barriers, including psychological factors (fear, mistrust) and logistical issues (transportation, cost, scheduling).
• Strategic messaging, particularly through social media platforms, is crucial for overcoming these barriers.
• Healthcare providers on the internet are key sources of clinical trial information for US adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how communication source (doctors vs. peers) and message framing (psychological vs. logistical barriers) in TikTok videos influence attitudes, perceptions, and sign-up behaviors for clinical trials.
• To apply the integrated behavioral model to understand these influences on clinical trial participation.

Main Methods:

• A 2x2 between-participant factorial web-based experiment was conducted with 561 US adults new to clinical trials.
• Participants viewed short-form videos featuring either doctors or peers, with messages framed around psychological or logistical barriers.
• Outcome measures included perceived source credibility, self-efficacy, attitude, behavioral intention, and actual sign-up behavior, analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Main Results:

• Doctor-featured messages increased perceived source credibility, leading to higher self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and sign-up behavior.
• Logistical barrier-framed messages enhanced self-efficacy, directly increasing clinical trial sign-up intention and behavior.
• The model explained 21% of the variance in clinical trial sign-up behavior; participant attitude did not significantly impact behavioral intention.

Conclusions:

• Short-form video platforms like TikTok are effective for communicating clinical trial information.
• Featuring medical professionals discussing strategies to mitigate logistical barriers is a recommended approach for enhancing clinical trial recruitment.
• This study contributes by measuring actual sign-up behavior as a key outcome in clinical trial communication research.