Vaccine Hesitancy in Rural Pediatric Primary Care.

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is a pervasive issue resulting in the delay or refusal of vaccines, which are known to protect against life-threatening diseases. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if early identification of VH using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines survey and targeted interventions would decrease VH scores. Of the 70 total participants, 11 participants were VH in the preintervention survey group; of those, nine (81.8%) were not VH in the postintervention survey group, and two (18.2%) remained VH (p = .004) after the intervention. Routine screening for VH using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines survey and implementing interventions successfully decreased VH scores and improved vaccine compliance.