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In a new study published in the journal Vaccine, CUNY SPH faculty members examined whether the childhood cultural health environment (CHE) of parents (measured by self-reported regular attendance at doctor and dentist visits during childhood) was associated with flu and COVID-19 vaccination uptake of their children.
Influenza (flu) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination rates are low among U.S. children. Research shows that early life circumstances such as childhood socioeconomic status and preventive health care are related to adult health as well as how parents make health decisions for their children. Using causal inference methodology to analyze data from 397 parents and caregivers of children 17-years-old or younger, the CUNY SPH study team estimated the intergenerational effect of parents’ childhood health environment on their children’s flu and vaccine coverage.
The study team found that parents who had regular dentist and pediatrician visits as children were more likely to vaccinate their own children for flu and/or COVID-19. The study team estimated that if all parents had attended regular doctor/dentist visits as children, flu and COVID-19 vaccination rates in children would be 16 % and 14 % higher, respectively, than if no parents had attended regular doctor/dentist visits as children.
“Our study highlights the importance of continued expansion of policies and programs that ensure children’s access to preventive care as health and health decision-making are intergenerational,” says first author Associate Professor Sasha Fleary. “It is also important that we do not jump to conclusions that our policies and programs aren’t working when we are not able to document immediate improvements in outcomes.”
The study team pointed out that despite the enactment of the Affordable Care Act which vastly expanded access to preventive health care and vaccines to individuals who would have otherwise been uninsured, there are racial/ethnic and socio-economic disparities in access to care in the US. They suggest that school-based health centers may be one approach to improve health access and reduce inequities in preventive care for children and for their future children.
Sasha A. Fleary, Zachary Shahn, Chloe A. Teasdale. Effects of parental childhood cultural health environment on children’s influenza and COVID-19 vaccination status. Vaccine, 2024, ISSN 0264-410X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.04.074
