Researchers found sending a text message to remind parents of their children's second dose of influenza vaccine is an effective method of boosting protection.
The researchers found the simple reminder increases the receipt of the dose of the vaccine and even brought children in to complete their vaccination sooner, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health reported. The team also observed that when educational information on the importance of the second dose was embedded in the text, the effect was even greater.
To make their findings, the researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial during the 2012 and 2013 influenza season that encompassed 660 families that were members of three community-based pediatric clinics. The children ranged in age from 6 months to 8 years and were split into three groups: "educational" text message, "conventional" text message and "written reminder-only."
The findings showed 72.7 percent of children in the educational text message reminder group came in to get their second dose of the influenza vaccine, compared to 66.7 percent in the plain text message reminder group and 57.1 percent in the written reminder group.
"Text message programs like these allow for healthcare providers to care for their patients even when they are not in front of them in the office, somewhat like a modern day house call," said Dr. Melissa Stockwell, assistant professor of population and family health at the Mailman School of Public Health and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical Center, and principal investigator.
Parents also reported that they appreciated the text message reminders. About 60 percent of the parents claimed the text messages were either the main reason or part of the reason they brought their child in for a second dose and 70.1 percent said it prompted them to bring their children in sooner than they would have without the reminder.
The second flu vaccine dose is important because many children are not fully protected until two weeks after receiving it.
"This randomized controlled trial provides valuable information for establishing best practices for influenza vaccine text message reminders. Important next steps will be to assess the impact of text message vaccine reminders in other populations as well as for other vaccines," Stockwell said.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Pediatrics.
