Communication interventions to promote vaccination uptake: A systematic review protocol.

ABSTRACT Background: The use of communication interventions to promote vaccination has been more frequent in this century. These types of interventions have proven to be effective in reaching the majority of the population. Knowing the characteristics and results of communication interventions to foster vaccine uptake is important, especially with the outbreak of new infectious diseases such as the novel coronavirus (SARS CoV-2). This protocol will guide the development of a systematic review of the literature aiming to identify and analyze the evidence of communication interventions to incentivize vaccine uptake among populations living in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: This systematic review protocol is guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P). The searches for the systematic review will be carried out through five electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Redalyc and PyscInfo. Two individuals will review each paper individually and in parallel using the software Rayyan. Duplicate elimination, title and abstract screening, and full text screening will be performed by the two reviewers. A matrix constructed in Excel will be used to extract data and to review the quality of the studies Quality assessment will be conducted using the QATSDD Critical Appraisal Tool. Discussion: The results of this systematic review will contribute to the public health literature in the area of behavior change communication in general, and vaccination communication in particular. Findings from this study would also inform the development of communication interventions to improve vaccination uptake in LMICs. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42022355541 Keywords: Vaccination, communication, behavior change, systematic review