438 - Changes in Reasons Adolescents are Not Vaccinating: 2008 & 2020 National Immunization Survey – TEEN

Sunday, April 30, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 438
Publication Number: 438.323

M. Connor Garbe, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, Oklahoma City, OK, United States; Kelly A. Curran, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States; Zain Alamarat, Arkansas Children's Hospital, little Rock, AR, United States; Christi A. Madden, ACRI, Little Rock, AR, United States; Laura Sisterhen, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; Christopher Smith, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; Paul M. Darden, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR, United States

Presenting Author(s)

MG

M. Connor Garbe, MPH

Data Analyst
Arkansas Children’s Research Institute
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States

Background: Understanding how the specific reasons for adolescent not vaccinated have changed over time can allow development of targeted interventions.

Objective: To understand how the reasons for adolescent patients not receiving vaccinations have changed between 2008-2020.

Design/Methods: Data is from the CDC’s NIS – Teen surveying parents of 13-17 year old children living in the United States with provider verified vaccination, in the years 2008 and 2020. The most frequent three main reason for not vaccinating for each vaccine and year were examined. Means and 95% confidence intervals are used to estimate annual vaccination coverage. Linear regression is used to investigate vaccination coverage and significant changes in main reason for not vaccination over time. Analyses accounted for the complex survey design.

Results: From 2008 to 2020, vaccination rates for MenACWY, Tdap and HPV vaccine increased. The most commonly occurring main reasons (see table) across all vaccines were “Not recommended” and “Not needed/necessary”. For MenACYW and Tdap the most frequently occurring main reason across all years examined was “Not recommended”. For HPV vaccine in 2020 for both sexes the most frequent reason for not vaccinating is “safety concerns/side effects”. The proportion of parents reporting safety concerns as a reason for not vaccinating increased significantly from 2008 to 2020 for all vaccines (p< 0.0001).

Conclusion(s):
Parents citing “Not recommended” as main reason for not vaccinating is consistent across vaccines, especially in 2020. Safety concerns have become more prominent and could be the more difficult reason to address for providers. Education for providers and patient should be a main focus for this safety concerns. Parental beliefs that vaccines are “Not needed,” “Not necessary,” and “Not recommended” continue to be a main reason for lack of vaccination. Provider recommendation is significantly associated with vaccine uptake for all adolescent vaccines, suggesting a need for interventions to educate providers.