Text Messaging May Make it More Likely that Children Receive the Influenza Vaccine

Text messaging has the power to up the likelihood that children will receive their second dose of influenza vaccine. Scientists have discovered that text message reminders increased the receipt of the second dose of the vaccine by the end of the season as well as brought children in sooner to be vaccinated.

The researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial during the 2012 to 2013 influenza season. Children in 660 families were in need of a second dose of influenza vaccine that season took part in the study. The children were assigned into one of three groups: an "educational" text message, a "conventional" text message and "written reminder-only" arms.

So what did the scientists find? It turns out that children in the educational text message reminder group were more likely to receive a second dose of influenza vaccine than those in the conventional text message group and the written reminder-only group.

"Text message programs like these allow for healthcare providers to care for their patients even when they are not in front of them in the office, somewhat like a modern day house call," said Melissa Stockwell, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Influenza vaccine coverage overall is low among young children. However, text reminders represent a potential method to increase vaccination and lower seasonal risk.

"This randomized controlled trial provides valuable information for establishing best practices for influenza vaccine text message reminders," said Stockwell. "Important next steps will be to assess the impact of text message vaccine reminders in other populations as well as for other vaccines."

The findings are published in the journal Pediatrics.

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