Allison Kennedy, NIP, CDC, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, MS E61, Atlanta, GA, USA, Debbie A. Gust, Vaccine Safety and Development Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-61, Atlanta, USA, Beth F. Hibbs, National Immunization Program Vaccine Safety, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, MS E-61, Atlanta, GA, USA, Hussain Yusuf, NIP/ISD/HSREB, CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd, NE, MS-E52, Atlanta, GA, USA, Emmanuel Maurice, NIP/Data Management Division, CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd, Mailstop E-62, Atlanta, GA, USA, and Ben Schwartz, Associate Director For Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIP, ESD, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, USA.
KEYWORDS:
Immunization, Complementary Therapies, Health Surveys
BACKGROUND:
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used in the United States, with children accounting for a significant percentage of CAM patients. Research suggests that some CAM providers do not support routine childhood vaccinations. This lack of support represents an area of concern, as parents often look to healthcare providers for vaccine information.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study was to determine if a history of CAM use in the household was associated with differences in parental vaccine beliefs and behaviors when compared to those reporting no CAM use.
METHOD:
We surveyed a sample of households that participated in the National Immunization Survey (NIS) during April, 2000 to March, 2001. Using multivariate analysis, we compared the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of those who used CAM and those who did not by vaccination status.
RESULT:
Response rate was 53% (2,315/4,400). 16% of respondents reported someone in the household using CAM in the last year. The final multivariate model showed that CAM users were more likely to be White (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.14-4.33) and were more likely to believe that immunizations were somewhat or not important to a child’s health (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.21-5.46). There was no relationship between use of CAM in the household in the last year and the child missing two or more vaccines.
CONCLUSION:
Parents who report a household use of CAM are less likely to believe that immunizations are important to their child’s health than parents who report no CAM use. This difference in vaccine belief, however, did not translate into a significant difference in vaccination behavior among those surveyed.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to identify differences in parental vaccine beliefs and behaviors between those who report CAM use in the household and those who do not. This abstract is part of a workshop entitled “Is Underimmunization Related to Vaccine Safety Concerns? Results from the National Immunization Survey”.
See more of Is Underimmunization Related to Vaccine Safety Concerns? Results from the National Immunization Survey
See more of The 37th National Immunization Conference
