Parental reminder, recall and educational interventions to improve early childhood immunisation uptake: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Harvey, Hannah; Reissland, Nadja; Mason, James

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.04.085

Cited by 88 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Studies have shown that patient reminder and recall systems in primary care settings are effective in improving immunisation rates in developed countries [11]. Our findings support the review by Harvey et al who concluded that postal reminders are an effective measure [12]. Our national reminder system based on data linkage with an immunisation register is, to our knowledge, unique to Denmark, although immunisation registers are currently in place or under development in several other countries.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

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Written reminders increase vaccine coverage in Danish children - evaluation of a nationwide intervention using The Danish Vaccination Register, 2014 to 2015

et al. 2017

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We evaluated a national intervention of sending written reminders to parents of children lacking childhood vaccinations, using the Danish Vaccination Register (DDV). The intervention cohort included the full birth cohort of 124,189 children born in Denmark who reached the age of 2 and 6.5 years from 15 May 2014 to 14 May 2015. The reference cohort comprised 124,427 children who reached the age of 2 and 6.5 years from 15 May 2013 to 14 May 2014. Vaccination coverage was higher in the intervention cohort at 2.5 and 7 years of age. The differences were most pronounced for the second dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR2) and the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-polio vaccine DTaP-IPV4 among the 7-year-olds, with 5.0 percentage points (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.5–5.4) and 6.4 percentage points (95% CI: 6.0–6.9), respectively. Among the 2.5 and 7-year-olds, the proportion of vaccinations in the preceding 6 months was 46% and three times higher, respectively, in the intervention cohort than the reference cohort. This study indicates a marked effect of personalised written reminders, highest for the vaccines given later in the schedule in the older cohort. In addition, the reminders increased awareness about correct registration of vaccinations in DDV.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Current evidence supports the use of postal reminders as part of a standard management of childhood immunisations [12]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Written reminders increase vaccine coverage in Danish children - evaluation of a nationwide intervention using The Danish Vaccination Register, 2014 to 2015

et al. 2017

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“…Reminder/recall systems have good evidence for effectiveness in high-income countries and are considered as a core component of any immunization programme [100]. However, the provision of reminder/recall systems in LMICs is challenging, especially in slums, due to informal road systems, lack of addresses and limited access to electronic communications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunization, urbanization and slums – a systematic review of factors and interventions

et al. 2017

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BackgroundIn 2014, over half (54%) of the world’s population lived in urban areas and this proportion will increase to 66% by 2050. This urbanizing trend has been accompanied by an increasing number of people living in urban poor communities and slums. Lower immunization coverage is found in poorer urban dwellers in many contexts. This study aims to identify factors associated with immunization coverage in poor urban areas and slums, and to identify interventions to improve coverage.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review, searching Medline, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL, Web of Science and The Cochrane Database with broad search terms for studies published between 2000 and 2016.ResultsOf 4872 unique articles, 327 abstracts were screened, leading to 63 included studies: 44 considering factors and 20 evaluating interventions (one in both categories) in 16 low or middle-income countries. A wide range of socio-economic characteristics were associated with coverage in different contexts. Recent rural-urban migration had a universally negative effect. Parents commonly reported lack of awareness of immunization importance and difficulty accessing services as reasons for under-immunization of their children. Physical distance to clinics and aspects of service quality also impacted uptake. We found evidence of effectiveness for interventions involving multiple components, especially if they have been designed with community involvement. Outreach programmes were effective where physical distance was identified as a barrier. Some evidence was found for the effective use of SMS (text) messaging services, community-based education programmes and financial incentives, which warrant further evaluation. No interventions were identified that provided services to migrants from rural areas.ConclusionDifferent factors affect immunization coverage in different urban poor and slum contexts. Immunization services should be designed in collaboration with slum-dwelling communities, considering the local context. Interventions should be designed and tested to increase immunization in migrants from rural areas.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4473-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Choosing the reminder method and including adolescents alongside parents for reminders possibly improved effectiveness 8283 A recent systematic review found that targeting postal and telephone reminders to parents was most effective at increasing early childhood vaccination 37…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interventions to reduce inequalities in vaccine uptake in children and adolescents aged <19 years: a systematic review

Crocker-Buqué

Edelstein

Mounier-Jack

2016

J Epidemiol Community Health

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BackgroundIn high-income countries, substantial differences exist in vaccine uptake relating to socioeconomic status, gender, ethnic group, geographic location and religious belief. This paper updates a 2009 systematic review on effective interventions to decrease vaccine uptake inequalities in light of new technologies applied to vaccination and new vaccine programmes (eg, human papillomavirus in adolescents).MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, ASSIA, The Campbell Collaboration, CINAHL, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Eppi Centre, Eric and PsychINFO for intervention, cohort or ecological studies conducted at primary/community care level in children and young people from birth to 19 years in OECD countries, with vaccine uptake or coverage as outcomes, published between 2008 and 2015.ResultsThe 41 included studies evaluated complex multicomponent interventions (n=16), reminder/recall systems (n=18), outreach programmes (n=3) or computer-based interventions (n=2). Complex, locally designed interventions demonstrated the best evidence for effectiveness in reducing inequalities in deprived, urban, ethnically diverse communities. There is some evidence that postal and telephone reminders are effective, however, evidence remains mixed for text-message reminders, although these may be more effective in adolescents. Interventions that escalated in intensity appeared particularly effective. Computer-based interventions were not effective. Few studies targeted an inequality specifically, although several reported differential effects by the ethnic group.ConclusionsLocally designed, multicomponent interventions should be used in urban, ethnically diverse, deprived populations. Some evidence is emerging for text-message reminders, particularly in adolescents. Further research should be conducted in the UK and Europe with a focus on reducing specific inequalities.

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Parental reminder, recall and educational interventions to improve early childhood immunisation uptake: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Cited by 88 publications

References 56 publications

Written reminders increase vaccine coverage in Danish children - evaluation of a nationwide intervention using The Danish Vaccination Register, 2014 to 2015

Written reminders increase vaccine coverage in Danish children - evaluation of a nationwide intervention using The Danish Vaccination Register, 2014 to 2015

Immunization, urbanization and slums – a systematic review of factors and interventions

Interventions to reduce inequalities in vaccine uptake in children and adolescents aged <19 years: a systematic review

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