title: Effect of reminder notices on the timeliness of early childhood immunizations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether reminder notices would improve the timeliness of toddler-age vaccinations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, randomized, controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two convenience cohorts of 320 children due to receive either measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine (at 12 months of age) or diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT)-inactivated polio (IPV)- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) booster vaccine (at 18 months of age).
  
  
  METHODS
  Suburban community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of the identified children were randomly assigned either to a group to receive a reminder notice of pending vaccinations or a control group that did not receive a notice at a ratio of 1:1. Immunization uptake was assessed eights weeks after the initial due date for vaccination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Information was obtained for 224 children in the MMR group and 227 children in the DPT-IPV-Hib booster group. MMR uptake within eight weeks of the due date was about 90% in both the test and control groups, probably because of publicity surrounding a local college-based measles outbreak. In the DPT-IPV-Hib group, reminder notices had no effect; the uptake rates within eight weeks of the due date were 73.7% to 75.2%. Delays in immunization resulted mostly from parents' scheduling problems and provider-recommended delays. More than half of the parents whose child had delayed immunization did not recall receiving the reminder notice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mailed reminders did not increase on-time immunization rates in the second year of a child's life. A telephone call or a more memorable reminder notice may be better suited to catch the attention of parents.
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Evaluation Center, University of British Columbia;
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bjornson
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Scheifele
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lajeunesse
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bell