To discover why the rates of vaccination are under target goals for most adolescent vaccines, researchers selected a sample of parents from 11 Georgia middle and high schools in a low-income Georgia county. Participants answered questions about adolescents’ vaccinations, chronic health conditions and health insurance status.
Journal of Adolescent Health published the study.
Here are seven findings:
1. Ninety-one percent of parents said their adolescent received at least one dose of the four recommended vaccines.
2. More adolescents with a chronic condition (98 percent) received one of the recommended vaccines compared to those without a chronic health condition (89 percent).
3. Only 71 percent of adolescents without insurance received at least one of the vaccines.
4. Ninety-three percent of adolescents with Medicaid received at least one of the vaccines.
5. Ninety-one percent of adolescents with private insurance received at least one of the vaccines.
6. Of the adolescents without insurance, 14 percent of parents said cost was a barrier to receiving the vaccines, compared to 7 percent of parents whose adolescents had Medicaid or private insurance.
7. Researches found parent recall of physician recommendations were lower among uninsured patients. However, recall was higher among adolescents with chronic health conditions. “Our study reinforces the importance of continued efforts to improve communication by physicians treating adolescents regarding vaccine promotion,” the authors said.
“Educating this particular population of parents about how they can access no-cost vaccines provided through the Vaccines for Children program could increase vaccination rates among lower income adolescents. Improvements should be observed with Affordable Care Act implementation as more children are becoming fully insured,” said lead author Katherine Seib, MSPH, research projects manager, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
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