Rapid review of virus risk communication interventions: Directions for COVID-19.
Darren M Winograd, Cara L Fresquez, Madison Egli and 9 others
PMID 33583651WHAT IT FOUND
Virus risk messages can improve people's understanding of risk, their beliefs about protective actions, and some intentions or behaviors.
The evidence was strongest for HIV/AIDS, weakest for influenza, and too low quality to recommend one message format.
Key findings
01Across the included studies, virus risk communication was associated with improved risk perceptions, beliefs about protective behaviors, intentions to act, and some protective behaviors.
02The evidence was most consistent for HIV/AIDS studies and least consistent for influenza studies, and no single communication approach was clearly better.
03Tailored risk messages were more consistently linked with better risk perception and behavioral intentions than non-tailored messages.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included only studies in English and with adult samples, so it may miss relevant work outside those limits. The studies were very different in design, virus, intervention, and outcome, so they could not be combined statistically. The quality of included studies was generally very low or low. There were too few studies for some viruses and communication approaches to draw firm conclusions. Many studies focused on HIV/AIDS, so the findings may not apply well to respiratory viruses or current outbreak messaging. The authors noted possible publication bias toward studies showing effective interventions. Some studies used before-and-after comparisons without a control group.
Declared interests
The research did not receive a specific grant from public, commercial, or not-for-profit funding agencies. One author was supported by a Department of Veterans Affairs career development award. All authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this review proves one communication format will work for your patients or for a current outbreak. The evidence came from low-quality studies of different viruses, many focused on HIV/AIDS, and the authors said applicability to COVID-19 is unclear.