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.