412 - Parents’/Patients’ Communication with Primary Care Providers on MenB Vaccination for Older Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends vaccination against invasive meningococcal disease (“meningitis” in this study) caused by serogroup B (MenB) for healthy 16–23-year-old adolescents and young adults based on shared clinical decision-making (SCDM) between patients/parents and providers. However, this recommendation based on SCDM may be unclear to patients/parents and providers.

Objective:

This study assessed how parents of 16–18-year-old adolescents (PoA) and how 19–23-year-old young adults (YA) communicated with their primary care provider (PCP) regarding MenB vaccination.

Design/Methods:

PoA and YA from the United States (US) were randomly recruited from a US-based patient panel in Sept–Oct 2022. Participants completed an online survey regarding their conversations with PCPs about MenB vaccination. Adolescent children of PoA and YA had received ≥1 dose of the MenB vaccine (Figure 1).

Results: A total of 301 participants were included (151 PoA and 150 YA; Table 1). Most discussions on the MenB vaccine were reported to have been initiated by PCPs (74% PoA, 62% YA); only 20% of PoA and 15% of YA reported initiating these conversations. The top reason for participants to initiate the MenB conversation was school/college requirement (57% PoA, 53% YA). Over half of PoA (76%) and YA (61%) considered their PCP to be responsible for MenB vaccination initiation; only 13% of YA held their parents responsible. The conversation lasted < 10 min for 63% of PoA and 59% of YA. The importance of vaccination was the main discussion topic for most participants (67% PoA, 52% YA). Most PoA (65%) and YA (55%) reported not being aware of what SCDM is. Many PoA (44%) and YA (61%) reported moderate-to-low PCP effort in providing MenB vaccine information. PCPs were described as having strongly recommended the vaccine by 52% of PoA and 38% of YA. By contrast, 20% of PoA and 36% of YA described the PCPs’ recommendation as a consideration, mentioning benefits and noting that the decision was up to the patients. Lastly, 69% of PoA and 52% of YA reported getting the vaccine right after the conversation at the office/clinic (Table 2).

Conclusion(s): SCDM is variably implemented in the primary care setting; many PoA and YA are not aware of their role in vaccine discussions. These findings suggest that if conversations are not initiated by PCPs, patients/parents may not have access to appropriate vaccine information. Targeted patient/parent and medical education on SCDM may provide more opportunities to ensure access to information on MenB vaccination.