Vaccination attitudes and mobile readiness: A survey of expectant and new mothers

Abstract

Sub-optimal vaccination coverage and recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases serve as a reminder that vaccine hesitancy remains a concern. ImmunizeCA, a new smartphone app to help track immunizations, may address several reasons for not vaccinating. We conducted a study to describe demographic variables, attitudes, beliefs and information sources regarding pediatric vaccination in a sample of childbearing women who were willing to download an immunization app. We also sought to measure their current mobile usage behaviors and determine if there is an association between participant demographics, attitudes, beliefs and information sources regarding pediatric vaccination and mobile usage. We recruited participants using a combination of passive and active methods at a tertiary care hospital in Ottawa, Canada. We used surveys to collect demographic information, examine attitudes, behavior, and information sources regarding immunization and self-reported mobile phone usage. A total of 54 women participated. The majority had positive attitudes toward vaccination (96%) and intended to vaccinate their children (98%). Participants were interested in information on pediatric vaccination (94%), and found information from public health the most reliable and accessible (78%). Participants also trusted immunization information from their doctor or nurse and public health (83%) more than other sources. There was variability in participant use of mobile apps for other purposes. The median participant mobile readiness score was 3.2. We found no significant associations between participant age, behavior and attitudes regarding vaccination and mobile readiness scores. This is the first evaluation of mobile readiness for a smartphone app to track immunizations. Our findings suggest that there exists an opportunity to provide reliable information on vaccination through mobile devices to better inform the public, however predictors of individual engagement with these technologies merits further study.

Keywords:

• attitudes and behaviors
• immunization
• knowledge
• mobile technology
• pediatric vaccination
• vaccine hesitancy

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

Both KW and KA are founders of Sigvaria Mobile Technologies Inc., the company responsible for developing the ImmunizeCA app for the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA).

Acknowledgments

We would also like to thank the ImmunizeCA team; Developers Cameron Bell, Julien Guerinet and Yulric Sequeira, our partners at CPHA, Greg Penney, Chandni Sondagar and at ImmunizeCanada, a coalition of CPHA, Lucie Marisa Bucci.

Funding

Thank you to our funders, the Pan Canadian Influenza Research Network (PCIRN), the Canadian Association for Immunization Research and Evaluation (CAIRE), and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).