Ethnicity and immunization compliance

This study examined the relationship between ethnicity and parents' compliance with immunizations of their children. Recent studies have shown that compliance rates for immunizations of children who were two years of age were below the standards set by the American Academy of Pediatrics due to both health system barriers and family/child barriers. A survey of pediatric patients was conducted utilizing a convenience sample of 66 parents of children between the ages of twenty and twenty-eight months. The subjects were interviewed to determine factors affecting immunization compliance, including cultural factors consistent with the theoretical framework of Madeline Leininger. The statistical analysis of the sample responses revealed an ethnically diverse sample of two year old hospitalized children whose immunization compliance was 53%. No statistically significant correlations (≤0.05) were noted among the socioeconomic, system barriers, or educational barriers when compared among the ethnic groups in the study, however trends were demonstrated.