Factors associated with parental COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and intentions among a national sample of United States adults ages 18-45.

PURPOSE: This study explored factors associated with parents' attitudes and intentions to seek information about the COVID-19 vaccine for their children (ages 0-18) and intentions to vaccinate their age-eligible children. DESIGN AND METHODS: As part of an anonymous online cross-sectional survey, parents' vaccine attitudes, COVID-19 vaccine intentions for their children, health literacy, health numeracy, and sociodemographic variables were assessed. Multivariable ordered logistic regression models identified factors associated with parents' COVID-19 vaccine intentions for their children. RESULTS: Parents/guardians (n = 963) were mostly White (82.3%), insured (88.0%), and college graduates (57.3%). Men reported higher intentions than women to seek information about the COVID-19 vaccine for their children (p = 0.003) and higher intentions to vaccinate their children (p = 0.049). Parental characteristics associated with increased intentions to have their children vaccinated included higher educational attainment (p < 0.001), more positive general vaccine attitudes (p < 0.001), preference for health information in a language other than English (p = 0.006), higher income (p = 0.048), having health insurance (p = 0.05), health literacy (p = 0.024), and health numeracy (p = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple sociodemographic characteristics including male gender, higher health literacy and numeracy, and language preference are noteworthy factors associated with parental COVID-19 vaccine intentions that could inform the planning and implementation of educational interventions. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Nurses are important sources of trusted information and play an important role in parent/family health education and in understanding myriad factors that may improve attitudes and enhance readiness toward vaccine uptake. Our findings emphasize the potential value of examining tailored/targeted COVID-19 vaccine education according to key influencing factors.

Patient satisfaction and cost savings analysis of the telemedicine program within a neuro-oncology department.

PURPOSE: Unique challenges exist in the utilization of telemedicine for neurological and surgical specialties. We examined the differences in patient satisfaction for telemedicine versus in-person visits within a Neuro-Oncology Program to assess whether there was a difference between surgical and medical specialties. We also examined the potential cost savings benefits of utilizing telemedicine. METHODS: 1189 Press Ganey surveys in the Department of Neuro-Oncology (982 in-person and 207 telemedicine) by surgical and medical neuro-oncology patients between 04/01/2020 and 06/30/2021 were reviewed. Survey results were divided into 4 categories (Access, Provider, Technology (telemedicine only), and Overall Satisfaction). Results were analyzed for the impact of telemedicine versus in-person visits, and gender, age, insurance, and specialty. Cost savings were calculated based on potential travel distance and lost productivity. RESULTS: Survey results from telemedicine visits demonstrated that patients with private insurance returned higher scores in the Provider (p = 0.0089), Technology (p = 0.00187), and Overall (p = 0.00382) categories. Surgical patients returned higher scores for Access (p = 0.0015), Technology (p = 0.0002), and Overall (p = 0.0019). When comparing telemedicine to in-person scores, in-person scored higher in Provider (p = 0.0092) for all patients, while in-person scored higher in Access (p = 0.0252) amongst surgical patients. Cost analysis revealed that telemedicine allowed patients to save an average of 4.1 to 5.6 h per visit time and a potential cost savings of up to $223.3 ± 171.4. CONCLUSION: Telemedicine yields equivalent patient satisfaction when employed in surgical as compared to medical Neuro-Oncology patients with the potential to lessen the financial and time burden on neuro-oncology patients.