Antenatal immunisation intentions of expectant parents: relationship to immunisation timeliness

Abstract

Introduction: Most parents decide about their infant’s immunisations during pregnancy. We aimed to describe the immunisation intentions of pregnant women and their partners and identify associations between these intentions and immunisation timeliness. Methods: Study population was the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort (6853 children born 2009-10). We interviewed mothers and partners independently during the pregnancy. We determined immunisation receipt from the National Immunisation Register and defined timely immunisation as receiving all infant vaccines (scheduled at 6-weeks, 3- and 5-months) within 30 days of their due date. We described independent associations of immunisation intentions with timeliness using adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Of the 6172 women who provided information, 5014 (81%) intended full immunisation, 245 (4%) partial immunisation, 140 (2%) no immunisation, and 773 (13%) were undecided. Of 4152 partners, 2942 (71%) intended full immunisation, 208 (5%) partial immunisation, 83 (2%) no immunisation, and 921 (22%) were undecided. Agreement between mothers and partners was moderate (Kappa=0.42). Timely immunisation occurred in 70% of enrolled infants. Independent of their partner’s intentions, infants of mothers who had decided on full immunisation were more likely to be immunised on time (OR=8.33, CI 5.26-12.50). Independent of the mother’s intentions, infants of partners decided on full immunisation were more likely to be immunised on time (OR=3.13, CI 2.17-4.55). Conclusion: During pregnancy, more partners are undecided about immunisation. Both the mothers’ and partners’ intentions are independently associated with infant immunisation timeliness.