Abstract
BackgroundImmunizing children throughout their early years prevents the spread of communicable disease and decreases the morbidity and mortality associated with many vaccine-preventable diseases. Searching online allows individuals rapid access to health information.ObjectiveThe purpose of this review was to develop an understanding of the existing literature of parents’ online health information-seeking behaviors to inform their vaccination choices for their children and to identify gaps in the literature around parents’ use of online health information and their vaccination choices.MethodsA scoping review of peer-reviewed literature from Canada and the United States was performed. The following databases were utilized to perform the search: PubMed, CINAHL, Nursing & Allied Health Database, Scopus, and PsycINFO. The purpose of this review was to examine parents’ use of online information seeking related to vaccine information and to understand how parents utilize this information to inform decisions about vaccinating their children. Of the 34 papers included in the review, 4 relevant themes and subthemes were identified: information seeking, online information resources, online vaccine content, and trust in health care providers.ResultsExamination of the literature revealed conflicting information regarding parents’ use of social media and online resources to inform decisions around vaccinating their children. There is evidence of significant misinformation regarding vaccine risks online. Parents’ digital health literacy levels are unknown and may affect their ability to appraise online vaccination information.ConclusionsParents are seeking vaccine information from online sources. However, the influence of online vaccine information on parental vaccine practices remains uncertain.
Highlights
Vaccination programs are a vital contribution to public health practice in North America [1,2]
Immunizing children throughout their early years prevents the spread of communicable disease and decreases the morbidity and mortality associated with many vaccine-preventable diseases
A justification search was completed with the Allied and Alternative Medicine (AMED) database; this search revealed no further articles in the subject area
Summary
Vaccination programs are a vital contribution to public health practice in North America [1,2]. Immunizing children throughout their early years prevents the spread of communicable disease and decreases the morbidity and mortality associated with many vaccine-preventable diseases. Sustaining vaccination rates above 95% maintains community immunity and prevents outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases [3]. Despite ongoing public health efforts in North America, childhood vaccination rates are not meeting the established goals for effective disease prevention [4,5].
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