Correlates of Willingness to Participate in Vaccine Trials during Outbreaks: Evidence from University Students in Western Uganda

Background The global burden of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases has notably been challenging recently and continues to threaten global health security. Vaccine trials offer an assurance that vaccines are safe and effective. This study determined the willingness to participate in vaccine trials in outbreak contexts, and its correlates among university students. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among university students of one university western Uganda. We used convenience sampling through an online questionnaire from July to August, 2025. Data analysis was performed using STATA 17. We performed descriptive and logistic regression analysis to identify the willingness to participate in vaccine trials and its correlates Results We enrolled 262 participants in this study. The mean age of participants was 26.71 (SD = 5.36) years. Majority of the participants were female 170(64.9%), Christian 198(75.6%), Less than half (44.66%) of the participants were willing to participate in vaccine trials during outbreaks. Perceived safety to participate in vaccine trials (aOR = 13.94, CI;3.12–62.18), p  = 0.001), perceived importance (aOR = 13.69, CI;1.71-253.95, p  = 0.005) and obtaining adequate information about the trial (aOR = 8.14,1.91–34.59, p  = 0.004) were key correlates of willingness to participate in vaccine trials. Conclusion and recommendations: The willingness to participate in vaccine trials was relatively low in this study. We recommend provision of timely, transparent, and accessible information about vaccine trials to enhance trust and improve participation in future outbreak-related vaccine research.