Improving Vaccine Knowledge Among Adolescents Aged 11-14 Years: A Pre-Post School-Based Educational Intervention

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatric Education
• Vaccinology

Background:

• Schools offer a prime environment for enhancing vaccine literacy and uptake.
• Adolescent vaccination knowledge is crucial for public health initiatives.
• Targeting adolescents can improve long-term vaccine compliance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a school-based educational intervention on vaccination.
• To improve vaccine knowledge among Italian adolescents.
• To identify predictors of successful intervention outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental study involving 262 adolescents in Southern Italy.
• Utilized the European Commission's e-Bug methodology for education.
• Assessed vaccination knowledge via pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, analyzed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test and regression models.

Main Results:

• Significant increase in vaccination knowledge scores post-intervention (from 5.6 to 6.79).
• Factors associated with improvement included fewer cohabitants, lower pre-test scores, clarity of information, and willingness to participate.
• Regression analysis identified key predictors for enhanced vaccine literacy.

Conclusions:

• School-based educational strategies are effective in boosting vaccine literacy among adolescents.
• Interventions can enhance vaccination compliance in this age group.
• Further randomized controlled trials are recommended to validate these findings.