Public Support for COVID-19 Test Allocation

COVID-19 Clinical Trial

Official title:

Race, Status, Vaccines, Tests, and Place: Public Attitudes and Support for Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine and Test Allocation

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05185687
• Other study ID #: 848725
• Secondary ID: #84525
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 4, 2022
• Est. completion date: January 6, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: January 2022
• Source: University of Pennsylvania
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

In a randomized survey experiment, investigators will assess public support or opposition towards one of three potential government plans for allocating at-home coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests to United States residents: 1) first come, first served; 2) a random draw; or 3) a random draw with 20% of tests reserved for disadvantaged areas. Investigators will also examine public attitudes surrounding other logistical and equity-related aspects of these allocation plans.

Description:

Complementing other efforts to increase access to COVID-19 testing in the United States, the federal government recently announced the purchase of 500,000,000 at home COVID-19 to be distributed for free "to Americans that want them". A central logistical element in matching supply with demand will be a website, on which people will register their interest in getting tests delivered to their home address. However, it is still unclear how supply will be matched with demand. Three main candidate options are first come, first served (FCFS), in which people are sent tests in the order in which they make requests; a random draw, such as a lottery; or a combination of a random draw with a guaranteed reserved amount for more disadvantaged populations. FCFS is a widely known and practiced rationing principle, but it has shown to exacerbate inequities in, for example, the allocation of vaccine appointments. Random draws can mitigate this impact, but, in the present context, might be insufficiently sensitive to the fact that not everyone has internet access, and that the need for testing is greater among more disadvantaged communities. Combining a lottery with a disadvantage reserve system using measures such as the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index is a practical way of promoting equity, and it was already used by the majority of US states in allocating vaccines. The main objective of this study is to assess public support for each of these three allocation plans and describe differences by demographic characteristics. Investigators will also assess public attitudes toward specific details of these allocation plans. The study, which is expected to take approximately 5 minutes to complete, will be administered as part of an omnibus online survey.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 2019
• Est. completion date: January 6, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: January 6, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18 years old or older, United States resident

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• COVID-19
• Health Equity

Intervention

Behavioral:
• First Come, First Served
Respondents will view the following description of the plan: "Tests will be sent out in the order they are requested. People who request tests the quickest will get them first, no matter where they live. People who request tests later may not get any. This strategy is also known as 'First Come, First Served.'"
• Random
Respondents will view the following description of the plan: "People who request tests will be entered into a random drawing, like a sweepstakes or lottery. Everyone who is in the drawing has the same chance of getting tests, no matter where they live, but some people may not get any tests."
• Disadvantaged Priority & Random
Respondents will view the following description of the plan: "Because COVID-19 has hit people living in disadvantaged areas of the country harder, a proportion of tests will be sent exclusively to people in these zip codes. Planners will allocate 80% of the tests using a random drawing, like a sweepstakes or lottery. Everyone who is in the drawing has the same chance of getting tests, no matter where they live. The remaining 20% are set aside exclusively for the most disadvantaged areas, again allocated with a random drawing. Some people may not get any tests. But people living in disadvantaged areas are more likely to get them."

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Harris Insights & Analytics	Washington	District of Columbia

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Pennsylvania

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Support for allocation plan	Self-reported degree of support for the plan, measured on a 5-point Likert scale ("strongly oppose" to "strongly support") that will be collapsed into 3 response categories ("oppose," "neutral," and "support") for analysis.	5 minutes
Secondary	Household-level test allocation preference	Preferred way of sending tests to households, measured as a binary choice between a fixed or variable (based on household size) number of tests per household.	5 minutes
Secondary	Tests allocated to disadvantaged areas	Self-reported percentage of tests wanted to be sent to disadvantaged areas, measured as a continuous variable on a slider from 0% to 100% with increments of 0.1%. This outcome will only be measured for respondents in the "Disadvantaged Priority & Random" condition.	5 minutes