Rl. Marron et al., EFFICACY OF INFORMATIONAL LETTERS ON HEPATITIS-B IMMUNIZATION RATES IN UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS, Journal of American college health, 47(3), 1998, pp. 123-127
Citations number
20
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Education & Educational Research
A randomized, controlled trial was conducted at a private university t
o determine whether students who received an informational letter (n =
366) would be more likely to receive a hepatitis B vaccination than s
tudents in a control group (n = 366). Surveys were conducted to determ
ine the students' reasons for deciding to be vaccinated. Rates of hepa
titis B immunization were significantly higher among students assigned
to the intervention group (10.7%) than among the control group (1.9%)
. Vaccinated students were more likely than unvaccinated students to r
eport having had 3 or more sexual partners in the past 6 months. Stude
nts at higher risk for hepatitis B infection were more likely than oth
ers to be vaccinated. Although the overall rate of immunization was lo
w, informational letters about the hepatitis B virus and vaccine were
found to he efficacious in increasing hepatitis B immunization rates a
mong students in the setting of a concurrent educational campaign.