BACKGROUND:
According to the 2002 NIS, 25% of US preschool children are not up to date (UTD) with the 4:3:1:3:3 series (4+ doses of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine, 3+ doses of polio vaccine, 1+ dose of measles-containing vaccine, 3+ doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine and 3+ doses of hepatitis B vaccine) by 19-35 months of age.
Prior research on risk factors for immunization has revealed that parental attitudes, beliefs and sociodemographic characteristics are associated with the vaccination status of their children.

OBJECTIVE:
To measure the association of parental factors about immunization and the immunization status of their 19-35 month old children.

METHOD:
A supplemental module was administered from 7/01 to 12/02 to randomly selected parents surveyed in the NIS, a national telephone survey of households with children aged 19-35 months. The module included selected questions regarding vaccine safety, severe vaccine side effects, simultaneous vaccine administration, new vaccines and vaccine indications. Chi square tests and logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations of attitudes and beliefs with demographic characteristics and UTD immunization status.

RESULT:
There was a significant association between parental concern about vaccine safety and their child’s immunization coverage; for those parents with the least concern, coverage was 75%, for those with intermediate concern, coverage was 65%, and for those with the highest concern, coverage was 53%, (p<0.01, n=7789). These differences remained significant after controlling for demographic characteristics. No other significant associations were found.

CONCLUSION:
Strategies that reassure parents about vaccine safety may have a positive impact on vaccine coverage.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To be able to describe significant parental factors associated with childhood immunization status.