AURORA, Colo. (March 2, 2015) – Pediatricians are facing increasing pressure from some parents who want to spread out the recommended vaccine schedule for their children by postponing vaccines, pointing to a need for improved programs that support timely vaccinations, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus.
The study, published in the April 2015 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that almost all pediatricians and health care providers encounter requests to spread out vaccines and that, despite risks, increasing numbers of physicians are agreeing to do so.
“Many physicians reported tension between the need to build trust with families by being willing to compromise on the schedule while simultaneously feeling they were putting children at risk and causing them unnecessary pain by spreading out vaccines on multiple visits,” writes Allison Kempe, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics and director of ACCORDS (Adult and Child Center for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science) at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
In the study, “Pediatrician Response to Parental Requests to Spread Out the Recommended Vaccine Schedule,” (published online March 2), pediatricians and family physicians responded to email and mail surveys between June through October 2012 on the frequency of requests to spread out the recommended vaccine schedule from parents with children under two years of age.