TY - JOUR
T1 - Are immunizations an incentive for well-child visits?
AU - Hughart, Nancy
AU - Vivier, Patrick
AU - Ross, Alan
AU - Strobino, Donna
AU - Holt, Elizabeth
AU - Hou, William
AU - Guyer, Bernard
PY - 1997/7
Y1 - 1997/7
N2 - Objective: To assess the beliefs of parents and the visit patterns of their children to determine whether immunizations act as an incentive to use well-child care. Design and Methods: Medical record audits provided data on immunizations and well-child visits. Two questions from a parent interview were used to identify 4 groups of parents: (1) motivated and (2) unmotivated to keep a well-child care appointment regardless of whether immunizations are scheduled, (3) vaccine-motivated and (4) checkup-motivated (parents who were influenced negatively by the prospect of receiving vaccinations). The percentage of children with a visit at each age window for well-child visits and the percentage up-to-date for their immunizations at given ages were compared across the 4 groups. The 4 groups were also compared for other parental attitudes about immunizations and well-child visits, and on sociodemographic and access characteristics. Results: Most (73.3%) of the 502 parents surveyed were classified as motivated and 5% as unmotivated to keep a well-child care appointment regardless of whether an immunization was scheduled. Only 18.3% were categorized as vaccine-motivated and 3.4% as checkup-motivated. For all 4 groups, there was no discernible difference in attendance between immunization and non-immunization visits. Attendance in the windows for well-child visits and percentage of children up-to-date on immunization declined with increasing age. Conclusions: In this inner-city population, attendance patterns at visits did not support the incentive hypothesis. This finding should reassure clinicians that providing immunizations outside of regular well-child care visits will not necessarily decrease attendance at visits for well-child care.
AB - Objective: To assess the beliefs of parents and the visit patterns of their children to determine whether immunizations act as an incentive to use well-child care. Design and Methods: Medical record audits provided data on immunizations and well-child visits. Two questions from a parent interview were used to identify 4 groups of parents: (1) motivated and (2) unmotivated to keep a well-child care appointment regardless of whether immunizations are scheduled, (3) vaccine-motivated and (4) checkup-motivated (parents who were influenced negatively by the prospect of receiving vaccinations). The percentage of children with a visit at each age window for well-child visits and the percentage up-to-date for their immunizations at given ages were compared across the 4 groups. The 4 groups were also compared for other parental attitudes about immunizations and well-child visits, and on sociodemographic and access characteristics. Results: Most (73.3%) of the 502 parents surveyed were classified as motivated and 5% as unmotivated to keep a well-child care appointment regardless of whether an immunization was scheduled. Only 18.3% were categorized as vaccine-motivated and 3.4% as checkup-motivated. For all 4 groups, there was no discernible difference in attendance between immunization and non-immunization visits. Attendance in the windows for well-child visits and percentage of children up-to-date on immunization declined with increasing age. Conclusions: In this inner-city population, attendance patterns at visits did not support the incentive hypothesis. This finding should reassure clinicians that providing immunizations outside of regular well-child care visits will not necessarily decrease attendance at visits for well-child care.
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U2 - 10.1001/archpedi.1997.02170440052009
DO - 10.1001/archpedi.1997.02170440052009
M3 - Article
C2 - 9232043
AN - SCOPUS:0030878303
VL - 151
SP - 690
EP - 695
JO - American Journal of Diseases of Children
JF - American Journal of Diseases of Children
SN - 2168-6203
IS - 7
ER -