Do parents have selective hearing about flu vaccine for children?

Implications

In the last flu season, spanning Fall 2017 through Spring 2018, a record-setting 180 children died from influenza. Less than sixty percent of children had received flu vaccine, even though annual flu vaccine has been recommended for children 6 months and older since 2010. Children who do not get flu vaccine, even those who are otherwise healthy, are at increased risk for death or serious influenza-related illness. 

This Mott Poll report identifies the two main approaches that parents use to decide whether their child will get flu vaccine. The first approach, used by about half of parents, is following the advice and recommendation of the child’s health care provider. Parents in this group may have questions or concerns about flu vaccine, but rely on a doctor or other health professional with scientific expertise to explain why vaccination is necessary, and to address questions about flu vaccine safety and effectiveness.

When parents follow the health care provider’s recommendation, children usually get flu vaccine. However, this is not always the case: 1 in 5 parents in this Mott Poll did not recall the provider giving a specific recommendation about flu vaccine. 

Whether in the absence of a provider recommendation, or due to parental preference, nearly 4 in 10 parents decided about flu vaccine for their child based on what they read and hear. Parents who take this approach may encounter a range of information sources. Some of those sources may offer accurate information, while others offer misinformation, such as suggesting that flu vaccine causes the flu, that influenza is not a serious disease, or that healthy children do not suffer serious consequences from influenza. In many cases, parents have limited expertise that would help them distinguish accurate information from misinformation; this can lead parents to make a decision about flu vaccine that may not be in the best interest of their child’s health.

A noteworthy finding from this Mott Poll is that there may be somewhat of an echo chamber of information sources about flu vaccine for children. Parents who decided to get flu vaccine for their child reported hearing or seeing information about flu vaccine that is largely in favor of flu vaccine – in fact, these parents reported four times as many information sources that prompted them to want to get their child vaccinated. The opposite was true for parents who decided that their child will not get flu vaccine: they reported seven times as many information sources that made them question or not want to have their child vaccinated. In both cases, parents recalled information that supported their flu vaccine decision.

The reason for this echo chamber may be multifaceted. Some parents may seek out specific people and information sources who support their already-established opinions on vaccines, creating an information environment that confirms their decision and shuts out dissenting views. Other parents may encounter a broader range of information but have “selective hearing” in remembering only those sources that support their decision on whether their child will get flu vaccine. 

Overall, findings suggest that child health providers play a critical role in helping many parents understand the importance of annual flu vaccine for children. However, for many parents, child health providers are not the sole influence, or even the primary influence, on decisions about flu vaccine. As such, other mechanisms are needed to convey accurate information, in language parents can understand, about the importance of annual flu vaccine for children.