33% of Parents Not Aware When or If Teenagers Need Vaccinations

A new report from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan found that many parents are unaware of what vaccines their teenagers need and when the next dose is scheduled.

In addition, this poll found parents are less vaccine-aware as their children become teenagers.

According to this Mott Children’s Hospital poll:

• 79% of parents believed that their child "definitely" had received all their vaccines, and 14% report that their teenager "probably" received all their vaccines,
• 36% admitting they didn't know anything about the need for additional vaccines for their adolescent,
• 19% believing their teenager was due for a vaccine in the coming year; 26% in a year or more.

Sarah Clark, MPH, co-director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, led the report and said, "Pediatricians facilitate early childhood vaccination through the timing of visits; parents don’t have much responsibility for learning which vaccines are due at certain ages.”

“Parents have grown accustomed to this paradigm, and many assume it continues into adolescence," said Clark. “Parents look for the quickest way to meet the requirement, rather than the most comprehensive care.”

"Child health providers can help by encouraging mothers to ask questions about any parenting uncertainties, and offer reassurance and practical advice that helps boost mothers' confidence and reduce anxiety around choices," Clark commented in an earlier study.

To further exasperate this situation, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended immunization schedule for 11- through 18-year-olds has become more complex. The AAP reports vaccination rates vary greatly, depending on the vaccine and state.

But, recent trends indicate pharmacists have an important role in maximizing immunizations.

A recent APhA Foundation pilot study looked at how community pharmacies could enhance vaccination rates. This study found that pharmacists increased vaccine administration rates by 41.4% over six months.

To achieve this result, pharmacists could both see and contribute to a patient’s records. When a patient came in for a vaccination, the pharmacist would search for unmet vaccination needs.

For every patient who came in for a flu vaccination, 1.45 other vaccines were forecasted to be due.

The study found that pharmacists uncovered 36 cases where forecasted vaccinations were contraindicated, and 196 cases where a patient self-reported a vaccine not present in the record.

Among patients shown to have unmet immunization needs, 95% were administered by the pharmacist at the point of care.

These Mott researchers did not report any conflicts of interest with this poll.