How Pregnant Women in the United States Perceive Vaccines for Themselves, their Close Contacts and their Children
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Date
2019-01-04
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Vaccine hesitancy has grown in recent decades [1-4], leading to the clustering of vaccine refusal and associated outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) [5-11]. Vaccination rates of pregnant women in particular are suboptimal [12].
This dissertation contains three manuscripts discussing research performed as part of an NIH-funded large randomized controlled trial of a comprehensive prenatal intervention to increase uptake of maternal and infant vaccines (referred to as P3+) and its add-on study sponsored by Walgreen Co to increase knowledge and uptake of cocooning vaccines among close friends and family of participating P3+ pregnant women.
As part of the P3+ provider-level intervention package, we performed a systematic review to update and succinctly summarize the scientific evidence assessing possible causal associations of adverse events following immunization (AEFI), with refined causality conclusions intended for health care providers. Although for 12 of the 47 AEFI studied a causal relationship was established with at least one vaccine currently routinely recommended to the general population in the United States, most of these were rare or mild, and no causal relationship was established for the other 35 AEFI studied.
As part of the P3+ patient-level intervention package, we developed an application called MomsTalkShots for smartphones, tablets and computers that delivers patient-tailored education materials to pregnant women and collects survey data to monitor vaccine knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. As part of the add-on study, the MomsTalkShots app encouraged P3+ pregnant women to refer their close friends and family to the app. Baseline survey data showed suboptimal maternal vaccine knowledge and intentions among P3+ pregnant women, especially among first-time pregnant women. In addition, pregnant women who valued vaccination and perceived their social network to value vaccination were more likely to refer their close friends and family to the app.
This research demonstrates the opportunity for individually-tailored vaccine education of pregnant women and their social networks to increase vaccine confidence and informed decision making at this stage of life.
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Keywords
Vaccine, Pregnancy