Childhood Vaccination Practices and Parental Hesitancy Barriers in Rural and Urban Primary Care Settings

AbstractThe purpose of our study was to identify primary care providers ’ (PCPs’) practices in promoting childhood vaccination and their perceptions regarding barriers to vaccination in a primarily rural state. In January-May 2022, we conducted a mail and online survey of PCPs across Montana (n = 829). The survey included modules on routine immunizations in chil dren 0–2 years old and COVID-19 vaccination in children 5–17 years old. The survey response rate was 36% (298/829). We categorized PCPs as working in rural (n = 218) or urban areas (n = 80), based on Rural-Urban Commuting Area codes. We then compared responses between rural and urban PCP s using chi-square tests. Urban PCPs (90–94%, depending on vaccine) stocked routinely recommended vaccines more frequently than rural PCPs (71–84%), but stocked the COVID-19 vaccine less often than rural PCPs (44% vs. 71%, respectively,p <  0.001). A higher percentage of rural providers reported parental beliefs that vaccine-preventable diseases are not severe enough to warrant vaccination (48% vs. 31%,p = 0.01) and concerns that vaccination will weaken their child’s immune system (29% vs. 6%,p <  0.001). More rural (74%) compared to urban (59%) PCPs identified a social media campaign from local health departments promoting early childhood vaccinations as an effective strategy to increase childhood vaccination rates (p = 0.01). We identified key differences in some childhood vaccination ...
Source: Journal of Community Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research