Lack of Awareness Linked to Low Teen Vaccination Rates
Many parents might not know when or if their teen is due for vaccinations, according to a recent survey.
The report was conducted by GfK Custom Research in January 2017 on behalf of the CS Mott Children’s Hospital. Participants were randomly selected from a stratified group of parents from the GfK’s web-enabled KnowledgePANEL, which closely resembled the US population. A total of 614 parents who completed the survey and had at least 1 teen between 13 and 17 years of age were included in the final analysis, and stratified groups were weighted to reflect population figures from the Census Bureau.
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Overall, 79% of parents reported their teen had received all vaccines and 14% reported their teen probably received all vaccines recommended for his or her age. This was above data from the CDC, which found that nationally only one third of teens received a second dose of the meningitis vaccine by age 17, less than half of adolescent boys completed the HPV series, and less than half of adolescents received an annual influenza vaccine.
Additionally, 19% of parents reported that their teen was supposed to receive another vaccine within the next year, 26% believed the additional doses of a vaccine would be due in more than a year, and 19% reported their teen did not need any more vaccines. Thirty-six percent of parents reported not knowing about the need for additional vaccines.
Parents reported that the doctor’s office was the primary means of receiving information about their teen’s vaccine schedule, with 44% reporting the doctor’s office scheduled an appointment for vaccination, 40% reported the doctor or nurse mentioning vaccination while during a visit, and 11% reported the doctor’s office sent a reminder that a vaccine was due. Only 10% of parents reported receiving a notice from a school, 1% reported receiving notice from their health plan, and 0.3% reported receiving notice from the public health department.
Furthermore, 10% of parents were not sure how they would know when a vaccine was due.
“Parents rely on child health providers to guide them on vaccines – in early childhood and during the teen years,” the researchers concluded. “Given the general lack of awareness about adolescent vaccines shown in this poll, there is a clear need for providers to be more proactive for their teen patients.”2
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
1) CS Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Parents not keeping up with teen vaccines. http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/parents-not-keeping-teen-vaccines. Published July 17, 2017. Accessed July 17, 2017.
2) Teens may be missing vaccines because parents aren’t aware they need one [press release]. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan; July 17, 2017. http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201707/teens-may-be-missing-vaccines-because-parents-aren%E2%80%99t-aware. Accessed July 17, 2017.