Novel Immunization Reminder/Recall Approaches: Rural and Urban Differences in Parent Perceptions

• Published in: Academic pediatrics Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 249 - 255
• Main Authors: Saville, Alison W., MSPH, MSW, Beaty, Brenda, MSPH, Dickinson, L. Miriam, PhD, Lockhart, Steven, BA, Kempe, Allison, MD, MPH
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.05.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude to Health; centralized reminder/recall; Child, Preschool; Consumer Behavior; Electronic Mail; Female; Humans; Immunization Programs; immunizations; Infant; Male; Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine; parent perception; parent preferences; Parents; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Pediatrics; population-based reminder/recall; Public Health; recall and reminder message; Reminder Systems; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Text Messaging; Urban Population - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; population-based reminder/recall; centralized reminder/recall; parent preferences; recall and reminder message; parent perception; immunizations
• ISSN: 1876-2859; 1876-2867
• DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2014.02.003

Abstract Objective To assess the following among parents of young children: 1) preferences about the source of immunization reminder/recall (R/R) messages, 2) the degree of acceptability of different R/R modalities, and 3) factors that influence preferences, including rural and urban characteristics. Methods We conducted a survey among parents of children 19 to 35 months old who needed ≥1 immunization according to the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS). Equal numbers of urban and rural respondents were randomly selected. Up to 4 surveys were mailed to each parent who had a valid address. Results After removing invalid addresses, the response rate was 55% (334 of 607). Half of parents (49.7%) had no preference about whether the public health department or their child's doctor sent reminders. Urban parents were more likely to prefer R/R come from their child's doctor (46.7%) compared to rural parents (33.7%), P  = .003. Mail was the preferred R/R method (57.7%), then telephone (17.0%), e-mail (12.7%), and text message (10.7%). Although not preferred, 60.1% reported it would be acceptable to receive R/R by e-mail and 46.2% by text message. Factors associated with preferring to receive R/R from their child's doctor were urban residence and educational level of college graduate or greater. Conclusions A large portion of parents are willing to be reminded about vaccinations by their health department rather than their child's provider and via novel modalities, such as e-mail or text messaging. Urbanicity and higher educational level were associated with preferring that R/R come from a provider.