Letters designed with behavioural science increase influenza vaccination in Medicare beneficiaries.
Nat Hum Behav
; 2(10): 743-749, 2018 10.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31406294
ABSTRACT
The influenza ('flu') vaccination is low cost1 and effective, typically reducing the likelihood of infection by 50-60%2. It is recommended for nearly everyone older than 6 months of age3; yet, only 40% of Americans are immunized each year. Vaccination rates are higher among at-risk groups, such as those ≥65 years of age, but still only 6 in 10 receive it4. There have been numerous attempts to improve vaccination rates using strategies such as school-based programmes, financial incentives and reminders, but these have generally had limited success5-7. Of the attempts that are successful, most are expensive-limiting scalability-and have not been evaluated in the elderly8. Conversely, lower-cost interventions, such as mailed information, hold promise for a scalable solution, but their limited effectiveness may result from how they have been designed. We randomly assigned 228,000 individuals ≥66 years of age to one of five versions of letters intended to motivate vaccination, including versions with an implementation intention prompt and an enhanced active choice implementation prompt. We found that a single mailed letter significantly increased influenza vaccination rates compared with no letter. However, there was no difference in vaccination rates across the four different letters tailored with behavioural science techniques.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Serviços Postais
/
Vacinação
/
Sistemas de Alerta
/
Influenza Humana
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
Limite:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nat Hum Behav
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos