VIDEOTAPE INCREASES PARENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT POLIOVIRUS VACCINES AND CHOICES OF POLIO VACCINATION SCHEDULES

Objective. To study the effect of an educational videotape about polio virus vaccines and choices of schedules for parents/guardians of child ren starting the polio vaccination series. Design. Prospective, random ized trial comparing two educational interventions.Setting. Five pedia tric offices (two university-based, two health maintenance organizatio n staff models, and one private practice) and a local health departmen t immunization clinic in the greater Lansing, MI, area. Participants. A total of 287 parents/guardians of 2- to 9-month-olds presenting for well-child care and due for the first set of immunizations including p oliovirus vaccine. Interventions. Parents/guardians were randomized to read the vaccine information statement (VIS) alone or to read the VIS and view a 15-minute videotape about polio vaccination and choices of schedules produced by Michigan State University. The intervention gro ups were similar by race/ethnicity, education, and relationship to the child. Outcome Measures. Change in knowledge about the risk of poliom yelitis in the United States, transmission of poliomyelitis, character istics of the two poliovirus vaccines, and choices of polio vaccinatio n schedules; and parent opinion on effectiveness of the interventions, as measured by pre- and postintervention questionnaires. Results. Bot h interventions resulted in increased test scores of knowledge. Howeve r, videotape viewers scored significantly higher on their posttest com pared with parents/guardians assigned to VIS only. This significant in crease was noted across all practice types, two of three major racial/ ethnic groups, and educational levels. (The increase for Hispanic pare nts/guardians approached significance). Reading the VIS did not improv e? posttest scores for videotape viewers. Reading the VIS did improve posttest scores for those assigned. to VIS only, but these scores stil l were not as high as for videotape viewers who did not read the VIS. Conclusions. This study demonstrated that a complicated discussion of risks/benefits of two vaccines and their schedules of administration c ould be communicated effectively via a videotaped presentation. In add ition, the videotape was more effective than VIS alone in increasing s hort-term knowledge, regardless of practice type, race/ethnicity, or e ducational level. As immunization schedules increase in complexity and parents are asked to make more choices, videotaped information may be a better method to achieve the goal of truly informed consent.