Parents accept vaccination, but do not feel involved in the decision-making process

January 2006

Three-quarters of mothers believe vaccination is an investment in their child’s health and 93% rank their child’s health as a top concern above nutrition, security and education, according to a study presented at the 45th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Washington.

But the international study, conducted by Fred Zepp, MD, of the Pediatric Hospital at the University of Mainz in Germany, and colleagues found that parents do not feel sufficiently involved in their child’s immunization, and 67% want more influence in their child’s immunizations.

“The data of the survey show that we still have to improve communication of these achievements, and make parents feel more comfortable with their vaccination decisions,” Zepp said in a press release.

‘my Generation’

Researchers conducted the “my Generation” study to understand parents’ motivation toward their child’s health care, particularly vaccination. Zepp and colleagues surveyed 6,600 parents of children younger than 1 year. Almost all the children (99%) received at least one immunization prior to their first birthday. The study spanned 14 countries and regions and IPSOS Market Research collected data.

Results showed that one in five parents did not feel that vaccinating their baby is absolutely essential, and only one-third of parents knew that they can prevent life-threatening diseases, such as pertussis, hepatitis and diphtheria, with vaccines.

“The last 10 years have seen significant improvements in vaccine technology, and today we can protect against many serious childhood diseases,” Zepp said.

Among the 61% of parents who said they face obstacles when it comes to vaccinating their children, safety concerns and lack of information were the most common factors. Among the 20% of parents who reported involvement in the vaccine decision-making process, only 12% reported knowing which disease they were protecting their children against.

“Eighty percent of mothers feel that they do not participate sufficiently in the decision-making process in vaccination, and the study indicates that they want to be more involved,” Zepp said. “We found that lack of information or conflicting information on vaccination, especially on safety issues, is a major concern for parents.”

Provide more information

Sixty-eight percent of parents said they wanted more information on vaccination. Physicians are the most trusted source of information and many parents (48%) said they initiate the vaccination discussion with the physician.

“The study suggests that we, medical health care providers, need to engage actively with parents so that they feel more confident about making the right choices in protecting their children,” Frank Furedi, PhD, professor of sociology at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom, said in the release. “By involving and engaging parents in a dialogue about vaccination, we can help to keep disease rates low. We can also ensure that anti-vaccination messages do not spread panic or misunderstanding. After all, the reality is that incidence of many childhood diseases is at an all-time low due to vaccination.”

The “my Generation” study results shed light on earlier findings in January 2005 that showed that mothers are more concerned about vaccination than education, but are not actively involved in decision-making, with as many as 80% not choosing vaccines and 56% taking their babies for immunization because it is “standard procedure.”

More involved

These data indicate that parents want to become more involved in vaccination decisions and that information may be key to helping them do so. Parents say they would like more information about which diseases can be prevented with vaccination, what are the adverse effects, when injections have to be repeated, how many are required and research about efficacy, for example.

“As pediatricians, it is our common responsibility to proactively provide information on vaccination so that the dialogue becomes not just a matter of ‘standard procedure’ recommended by a doctor, but rather a well-informed decision taken by the parents,” Zepp said.

An unrestricted grant from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals sponsors the my Generation study.

Dr. Zepp has served as principal investigator in clinical trials for GlaxoSmithKline.

For more information:

• Zepp F. What factors influence vaccination uptake? ‘my Generation’: an international study investigating mothers’ concerns about vaccination. Abstract G-915. Presented at: 45th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Dec. 16-19, 2005; Washington.