Educational content and the effectiveness of influenza vaccination reminders

OBJECTIVE: To determine if a mailed patient education brochure (addressing demonstrated reasons for vaccination refusal) would result in a higher rate of influenza vaccination than a mailed postcard reminder without educational content. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: Urban, predominantly African-American, low-income community. PARTICIPANTS: There were 740 community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years and older in the study. MEASUREMENTS: Receipt of influenza vaccination and beliefs about influenza and influenza vaccination were measured by telephone survey self-report. MAIN RESULTS: We successfully contacted 202 individuals (69.9%) who received the postcard reminder and 229 individuals (71.1%) who received the educational brochure. People receiving the educational brochure were more likely to report influenza vaccination during the previous vaccination season than those who received the postcard reminder (66.4% vs 56.9%, p = .04). They also reported more interest in influenza vaccination in the coming year. (66.5% vs 57.1%, p = .05). CONCLUSIONS: A mailed educational brochure is more effective than a simple reminder in increasing influenza vaccination rates among inner-city elderly patients.