TY - JOUR
T1 - Parental perspectives on influenza immunization of children aged 6 to 23 months
AU - Nowalk, Mary Patricia
AU - Zimmerman, Richard K.
AU - Lin, Chyongchiou J.
AU - Ko, Feng Shou
AU - Raymund, Mahlon
AU - Hoberman, Alejandro
AU - Kearney, Diana H.
AU - Greenberg, David P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This publication/project was made possible through a cooperative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine (ATPM) (award TS-894), and the EXPORT Health Project at the Center for Minority Health, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (National Institutes of Health/National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant P60 MD-000-207). Its contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the CDC, ATPM, or the Center for Minority Health.
PY - 2005/10/1
Y1 - 2005/10/1
N2 - Background: For the first time, in 2002, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices encouraged the vaccination of healthy children 6 to 23 months against influenza, whenever feasible. Participating inner-city health centers designed interventions to introduce influenza vaccination among this group of children. The study was designed to assess parents' attitudes toward the vaccine. Methods: Following the 2002-2003 influenza vaccination season, parents were surveyed to identify barriers to and facilitators of influenza vaccination. A low-literacy level, 19-question survey was mailed to parents in three waves, 4 weeks apart. A subset of children had medical record data available to confirm vaccination status. Measures of validity were calculated. This paper focused only on the children whose parent-reported vaccination status was concordant with that reported in medical records (n=193). Associations of responses to vaccination status were calculated in 2004, using chi-square and logistic regression procedures. Results: Sensitivity was 85.7% and specificity was 66% (κ=0.50), assessing the ability of parents to recall receipt or nonreceipt of influenza vaccine. The most important factors related to immunization of healthy infants were perceived doctor's recommendation (odds ratio [OR]=5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.4-12.3; p<0.001) and belief that getting an influenza shot is a smart idea (OR=3.5; 95% CI=1.3-8.9; p<0.01) for those with medical record-confirmed vaccination status. Conclusions: A clear message that the doctor recommends influenza vaccination for a child is an important factor for ensuring vaccination, and may foster the idea that vaccination is "smart."
AB - Background: For the first time, in 2002, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices encouraged the vaccination of healthy children 6 to 23 months against influenza, whenever feasible. Participating inner-city health centers designed interventions to introduce influenza vaccination among this group of children. The study was designed to assess parents' attitudes toward the vaccine. Methods: Following the 2002-2003 influenza vaccination season, parents were surveyed to identify barriers to and facilitators of influenza vaccination. A low-literacy level, 19-question survey was mailed to parents in three waves, 4 weeks apart. A subset of children had medical record data available to confirm vaccination status. Measures of validity were calculated. This paper focused only on the children whose parent-reported vaccination status was concordant with that reported in medical records (n=193). Associations of responses to vaccination status were calculated in 2004, using chi-square and logistic regression procedures. Results: Sensitivity was 85.7% and specificity was 66% (κ=0.50), assessing the ability of parents to recall receipt or nonreceipt of influenza vaccine. The most important factors related to immunization of healthy infants were perceived doctor's recommendation (odds ratio [OR]=5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.4-12.3; p<0.001) and belief that getting an influenza shot is a smart idea (OR=3.5; 95% CI=1.3-8.9; p<0.01) for those with medical record-confirmed vaccination status. Conclusions: A clear message that the doctor recommends influenza vaccination for a child is an important factor for ensuring vaccination, and may foster the idea that vaccination is "smart."
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=24944488888&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.amepre.2005.05.010
DO - 10.1016/j.amepre.2005.05.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:24944488888
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 29
SP - 210
EP - 214
JO - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
IS - 3
ER -