Improving hepatitis B immunization among high-risk adolescents: a low-cost intervention on the Mexico-United States border.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze factors associated with hepatitis B immunization adherence among adolescents attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in El Paso, a city in Texas that is on the border between Mexico and the United States of America.


METHODS
In this cohort study with 248 adolescents we obtained data on demographics and health beliefs through personal interviews and medical record abstraction. We monitored each of the individuals for 8 months to determine whether the adolescents received a first, second, and third dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.


RESULTS
Overall, 32% of the adolescents received the first immunization, 9% the second, and 2% the third. The strongest predictor of receiving either one or two doses was providing the vaccine at the STD clinic as opposed to referring adolescents to a separate vaccination clinic (relative risk (RR) for receiving the first immunization = 7.3; RR for receiving the second immunization = 3.8). Several health beliefs were also associated with receiving vaccinations.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of our study indicate that hepatitis B vaccination programs can be improved through such steps as providing vaccinations at a convenient site, educating adolescents about hepatitis B risk factors, and emphasizing the difficulty of treating hepatitis B infection.
O'Rourke
K M
KM
Department of Biometry and Epidemiology, 135 Rutledge Ave, Suite 1134, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. orourkek@musc.edu
Redlinger
T E
TE
Steege
A M
AM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States
D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines