A Voice-Annotated Digital Decision Aid to Promote Child Influenza Vaccination: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

(1) Background: Child influenza vaccine uptake is suboptimal due partly to vaccine hesitancy. A voice-annotated digital decision aid, Flu Learning Object (FLO), was developed to facilitate parental decision-making. This study assessed parental views on FLO’s usability and utility and determined its preliminary effectiveness in increasing vaccine intention and uptake; (2) Methods: A single-center mixed method study was conducted in a public primary care clinic in Singapore. Parents of children aged 6 months to 5 years who were unvaccinated in the preceding year were recruited. In-depth interviews explored their views of using FLO. Pre- and post-FLO questionnaires assessed their vaccine intention and perceived usability using the System Usability Scale (SUS); (3) Results: 18 parents were recruited. They became more aware of benefits and potential complications, distinguished influenza from the common cold, and recognized recommendations by National Childhood Immunisation Schedule. FLO addressed parents’ concerns and supported their decision-making process. FLO has good usability with a mean SUS score of 79.3, ranked at approximately the 85th percentile. The usage of FLO significantly increased vaccine intention from 55.6% to 94.4% (p = 0.016) with an actual vaccine uptake rate of 50%; (4) Conclusions: Parents generally accepted FLO, which positively influenced their intention to vaccinate their child against influenza.

The Impact of a Revised National Childhood Immunization Schedule on Vaccination Defaulters

“…Decision-support aids have been developed to support parents who are ambivalent in vaccinating their children. For ease of access and with the ubiquitous use of smart phones among parents, digitalized, voice-over, or animated parental decision-support aids have shown preliminary efficacy in increasing influenza vaccine uptake by enhancing parental decision-making processes and the provision of information on both the safety and risks of the vaccine [47]. The content of such aids can potentially be extended to the other childhood vaccines.…”