Effect of Opt-In vs Opt-Out Framing on Enrollment in a COVID-19 Surveillance Testing Program

Allison H Oakes,Mitesh S Patel,Sae-Hwan Park,Jonathan A Epstein,Arupa Ganguly,Chalanda N Evans

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.12434

Abstract

This randomized clinical trial examines the effect of an opt-out recruitment strategy vs a conventional opt-in strategy on enrollment and initial adherence to a COVID-19 surveillance testing program.

Highlights

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused workplaces and campuses to close or shift many people to remote work
The COVID-19 Screening Assessment for Exposure Trial (COVID SAFE) was a randomized clinical trial conducted between September 9, 2020, and October 30, 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04506268)
Baseline characteristics were similar among groups, including age, sex, and race/ethnicity

Summary

Introduction

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused workplaces and campuses to close or shift many people to remote work. Surveillance testing is needed to help to identify asymptomatic and presymptomatic cases.[1,2] We conducted a clinical trial to rapidly implement and scale a saliva-based method for COVID-19 surveillance testing.[3] participation in clinical trials is often suboptimal. In prior work,[4,5] opt-out framed recruitment strategies have shown promise for increasing program enrollment; this approach may leverage status quo bias. In this randomized clinical trial, we tested the effect of an opt-out framed recruitment strategy compared with a conventional opt-in strategy on enrollment and initial adherence to a COVID-19 testing program

Methods

Results

Conclusion