Corowa-kun: A messenger app chatbot delivers COVID-19 vaccine information, Japan 2021.
Vaccine
; 40(32): 4654-4662, 2022 07 30.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1882614
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
There is a long history in Japan of public concerns about vaccine adverse events. Few studies have assessed how mobile messenger apps affect COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.METHODS:
Corowa-kun, a free chatbot, was created on February 6, 2021 in LINE, the most popular messenger app in Japan. Corowa-kun provides instant, automated answers to 70 frequently asked COVID-19 vaccine questions. A cross-sectional survey with 21 questions was performed within Corowa-kun during April 5-12, 2021.RESULTS:
A total of 59,676 persons used Corowa-kun during February-April 2021. Of them, 10,192 users (17%) participated in the survey. Median age was 55 years (range 16-97), and most were female (74%). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy reported by survey respondents decreased from 41% to 20% after using Corowa-kun. Of the 20% who remained hesitant, 16% (1,675) were unsure, and 4% (364) did not intend to be vaccinated. Factors associated with vaccine hesitancy were age 16-34 (odds ratio [OR] = 3.7; 95% confidential interval [CI] 3.0-4.6, compared to age ≥ 65), female sex (OR = 2.4; Cl 2.1-2.8), and history of a previous vaccine side-effect (OR = 2.5; Cl 2.2-2.9). Being a physician (OR = 0.2; Cl 0.1-0.4) and having received a flu vaccine the prior season (OR = 0.4; Cl 0.3-0.4) were protective.CONCLUSIONS:
A substantial number of people used the chabot in a short period. Mobile messenger apps could be leveraged to provide accurate vaccine information and to investigate vaccine intention and risk factors for vaccine hesitancy.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Mobile Applications
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Vaccine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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