Text Message Reminders Raise Flu Vaccination Rates

A text message reminder can raise full vaccination rates for the flu vaccine, according to a recent study in published in Pediatrics.¹

This finding is based on a randomized clinical trial from the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 influenza seasons, which involved 2086 parents or primary caregivers throughout 50 primary care offices and 24 states; these offices were primarily part of the American Academy of Pediatrics' practice-based research network.

A cohort of primary caregivers received scheduled text messages in their preferred language, reminding them about the importance of the influenza vaccine, including the second dose. Researchers found that text message reminders led to more children getting the second dose of the influenza vaccine, many of whom received it sooner than they would have otherwise.

In the test group, 83.8% of children received a second dose by the end of the season, while only 80.9% of the control group, which did not receive text message reminders, received a second dose. It was also found that 62.4% of families that received the text reminder got the vaccine by day 42, while 55.7% of the families that did not receive the reminder did the same.

These results led researchers to conclude that text message reminders effectively raise vaccination rates but recommend further research on a broader implementation of text message reminders.

This article originally appeared in Contemporary Pediatrics®.

Reference

1. Text message reminders effective in raising flu vaccination rates. American Academy of Pediatrics. Published August 15, 2022. Accessed August 16, 2022. https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/pediatrics2/2022/text-message-reminders-effective-in-raising-flu-vaccinationrates/#:~:text=During%20the%202017%2D18%20and,of%20influenza%20vaccine%20for%20children