Improving hepatitis B immunization among high-risk adolescents: a low-cost intervention on the Mexico-United States border

ABSTRACT

Objective. To analyze factors associated with hepatitis B immunization adherence among adolescents attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in El Paso, a city in Texas that in on the border between Mexico and the United States of America. Methods. In this chort study with 248 adolescents we obtained date on demographics and health beliefs through personal interviews and medical record abstraction. We monitored each oof the individuals for 8 determine whether the adolescents received a first, second, and third dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Results. Overall, 32 of the adolescents received the first immunization, 9 the second, and 2 the thrid. The strongest predictor of receiving either one or two does was providing tha vaccine at the STD clinic as opposed to referring adolescents to a separate vaccination clinic (relative risk (RR)for receiving the first immunization=7.3; RR for receining the second immunization=3.8). several health beliefs were also associated with receiving vaccinations. Conclusions. The results of our study indicate that hepatitis B vaccination programs can be improved throug such steps as providing vaccinations at a convenient site, educating adolescents about hepatitis B risk factors, and emphasizing the difficulty of treating hepatitis B infection