Abstract

Introduction: Coverage rates for recommended adolescent vaccinations such as HPV and influenza (flu) are far below the 80% Healthy People Target. Promoting vaccination in nontraditional settings such as the dental office may provide a unique opportunity to improve vaccination rates and prevent cancer. 

Methods: In a cluster randomized trial of 16 Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) Dental clinics, dental teams were randomized to deliver an intervention to recommend vaccination to 11-17-year-olds who were due for a recommended vaccination, or to deliver usual care. We mailed surveys to the parents or guardians of adolescents asking whether they received a vaccine recommendation during their dental visit and assessing their comfort with the intervention.

Results: Nearly 64% of 11-17-year-olds who had a dental visit during the study period were due for one or more recommended vaccination. Most (72%) parents indicated that they were either comfortable or neutral about dental providers making vaccine recommendations. Over two-thirds (69%) of parents who recalled receiving the specific vaccine recommendation reported that their child subsequently received some or all the vaccines recommended during the dental visit or that they planned to do so. However, a sizeable minority of parents, 31%, reported that they did not plan to follow up with recommended vaccinations. 

Discussion: Most parents are accepting of dental providers making vaccination recommendations. Promoting vaccination in alternative settings such as dental clinics may be a promising technique to prevent cancer, other disease and death through closing vaccination gaps.

Keywords

vaccination rates, acellular pertussis, nontraditional settings, cancer, adolescents, augment, emergency departments, wholistic patient, HPV vaccine, dental visit, intervention, immunization study, flu vaccination, parental comfort, health centers, motivational interviewing, hesitancy