The Impact of Educational Intervention on Willingness to Enroll in a Clinical Trial of a Gonorrhea Vaccine

Globally, >80 million new gonorrhea infections occur annually. Here, we assessed barriers to and influences on participation in a gonorrhea clinical trial and the impact of educational intervention. The survey was fielded in the US in March 2022. Higher enrollment of Black/African Americans and younger individuals than represented in the US demographic distribution reflected the higher incidence of gonorrhea in these groups. Behavioral characteristics and baseline attitudes toward vaccination were collected. Participants were probed on their knowledge of and likelihood to enroll in general and gonorrhea vaccine trials. Participants hesitant to enroll in a gonorrhea vaccine trial were given nine bullets of basic facts about the disease and asked again to rank their likelihood to enroll. Overall, 450 individuals completed the survey. Fewer participants were willing (quite/very likely) to join a gonorrhea versus a general vaccine trial (38.2% [172/450] vs. 57.8% [260/450]). The likelihood to enroll in any vaccine trial or a gonorrhea vaccine trial was greater with higher self-declared knowledge (Spearman’s ρ = 0.277 [p < 0.001] and 0.316 [p < 0.001], respectively) and baseline openness towards vaccination (p < 0.001 for both). Self-declared awareness of gonorrhea was associated with age (p = 0.001), education (p = 0.031), and ethnicity/race (p = 0.002), with older, more educated, and Black/African Americans having higher awareness. Males (p = 0.001) and those with more sexual partners (p < 0.001) were more likely to enroll in a gonorrhea vaccine trial. Educational intervention had a significant (p < 0.001) impact on hesitancy. Improvement in willingness to enroll in a gonorrhea vaccine trial was greatest in those initially marginally hesitant and lowest in those initially strongly hesitant. Basic educational intervention has the potential to improve recruitment into gonorrhea vaccine trials.