Factors conditioning effectiveness of a reminder/recall system to improve influenza vaccination in asthmatic children.
In order to verify whether a telephone recall system directly managed by pediatricians who usually follow up children for their asthma is more effective than an anonymous recall system, we randomly assigned 285 asthmatic children (177 males; mean age 10.3+/-3.4 years) to one of three groups: those whose mothers were to be called by a pediatrician not previously involved in caring for their asthmatic children and who received the vaccine in our immunisation clinic (group 1); those whose mothers were to be called by a pediatrician from our asthma clinic and who received the vaccine in the immunisation clinic (group 2); and those whose mothers were to be called by a pediatrician from our asthma clinic and who received the vaccine in the same clinic (group 3). Our findings highlight that the use of a reminder/recall system increases vaccination rates in asthmatic children, and show that the best results are obtained when the mothers are contacted and the vaccine administered by the pediatricians who usually follow up the child for asthma.
Esposito
Susanna
S
Institute of Pediatrics, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regine Elena, Milan, Italy.
Pelucchi
Claudio
C
Tel
Francesca
F
Chiarelli
Gabriella
G
Sabatini
Caterina
C
Semino
Margherita
M
Marseglia
Gian Luigi
GL
De Mattia
Domenico
D
Principi
Nicola
N
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D017010:Reminder Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013689:Telephone; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D007252:Influenza Vaccines