• Susan Cheung, Hai-Lin Wang, Laurene Mascola, Alvin Nelson El Amin, and Pia S Pannaraj.
• Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2015 Sep 1; 9 (5): 255-62.

BackgroundSchool-located influenza vaccination (SLV) programs have the potential to mass-vaccinate all enrolled children, but parental consent is required.ObjectiveTo examine parental attitudes and determine predictors of parental consent for vaccination of schoolchildren through SLV programs.Patients/MethodsSurveys were distributed to parents of 4517 children during 2009-2010 (year 1) and 4414 children during 2010-2011 (year 2) in eight elementary schools in conjunction with a SLV program.ResultsParticipants included 1259 (27·9%) parents in year 1 and 1496 (33·9%) in year 2. Parental consent for 2009 H1N1, 2009 seasonal, and 2010 seasonal influenza vaccines was obtained from 738 (70·8%), 673 (64·5%), and 1151 (77·2%) respondents, respectively. During the 2009 pandemic, respondents concerned about influenza severity were twice as likely to consent for the 2009 H1N1 vaccination compared to unconcerned respondents (OR 2·04, 95% CI:1·19-3·51). During year 2, factors that predicted parental consent were the perception of high susceptibility to influenza infection (OR 2·19, 95% CI:1·50-3·19) and high benefit of vaccine (OR 2·23, 95% CI:1·47-3·40). In both years, college-educated parents were more likely to perceive vaccine risks (year 1: 83·6 versus 61·5%, P < 0·001 and year 2: 81·1% versus 60·6%, P < 0·001) and less likely to consent for seasonal influenza vaccine (year 1: OR 0·69, 95% CI:0·53-0·89 and year 2: OR 0·61, 95% CI:0·47-0·78) compared to non-college-educated parents.ConclusionsParents who appreciate the risks of influenza and benefits of vaccination are more likely to consent for SLV. More research is needed to determine how to address heightened safety concerns among college-educated parents.© 2015 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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