Khader Yousef S, Laflamme Lucie, Schmid Daniela, El-Halabi Soha, Abu Khdair Mohammad, Sengoelge Mathilde, Atkins Salla, Tahtamouni Manal, Derrough Tarik, El-Khatib Ziad
Department of Community Medicine, Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 Oct 7;8(10):e13557. doi: 10.2196/13557.
There are up to 19.4 million children who are still unvaccinated and face unnecessary deaths, especially among refugees. However, growing access to smartphones, among refugees, can be a leading factor to improve vaccination rates.
This study aims to determine whether a smartphone app can improve the vaccination uptake among refugees and determine the app's effectiveness in improving the documentation of vaccination records.
We developed and planned to test an app through a cluster randomized trial that will be carried out at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. The study will be open to all parents who carry Android smartphones, have at least one child, and agree to participate in the study. The parents will be recruited to the study by trained volunteers at the vaccination sites around the Zaatari camp. Inclusion criteria will be the following: having at least one child of 0 to 5 years, being a local resident of the camp, and having an Android smartphone.
The intervention includes an app that will allow storing Jordanian vaccination records, per child, on the parents' smartphones in Arabic and English (in an interchangeable fashion). Every record will have a set of automated reminders before the appointment of each child. The app will summarize immunization records in form of due, taken, or overdue appointments, labeled in orange, green, and red, respectively. Baseline will include the collection of our primary and secondary outcomes that are needed for the pre and postdata measurements. This includes social demographic data, any previous vaccination history, and electronic health literacy. Participants, in both study arms, will be monitored for their follow-up visits to the clinic for vaccination doses. For the study outcome measures, we will measure any differences in the uptake of vaccinations. The secondary outcome is to analyze the effect of the children immunization app on visits for follow-up doses.
Owing to the limited evidence of effective interventions for childhood vaccination among refugees, research in this area is greatly needed. The project will have a significant impact on the health of refugees and the public health system. In Jordan and the Middle East, the vaccination level is low. Given the influx of refugees from the area, it is crucial to ensure a high vaccination level among the children.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/13557.
仍有多达1940万儿童未接种疫苗，面临不必要的死亡风险，尤其是在难民群体中。然而，难民中智能手机的使用日益普及，这可能成为提高疫苗接种率的一个关键因素。
本研究旨在确定一款智能手机应用程序能否提高难民的疫苗接种率，并确定该应用程序在改善疫苗接种记录存档方面的有效性。
我们开发并计划通过一项整群随机试验来测试一款应用程序，该试验将在约旦的扎塔里难民营进行。该研究将面向所有携带安卓智能手机、至少有一个孩子且同意参与研究的家长开放。家长将由扎塔里营地周围疫苗接种点的经过培训的志愿者招募到研究中。纳入标准如下：有至少一名0至5岁的孩子、是营地的当地居民且拥有一部安卓智能手机。
干预措施包括一款应用程序，它将允许家长以阿拉伯语和英语（可互换）在其智能手机上为每个孩子存储约旦的疫苗接种记录。每次记录在每个孩子预约接种前都会有一系列自动提醒。该应用程序将以到期、已接种或逾期预约的形式汇总免疫记录，分别用橙色、绿色和红色标注。基线将包括收集我们在数据前后测量所需的主要和次要结果。这包括社会人口数据、任何以前的疫苗接种史以及电子健康素养。两个研究组的参与者都将被监测其前往诊所接种疫苗剂量的后续就诊情况。对于研究结果测量，我们将测量疫苗接种率的任何差异。次要结果是分析儿童免疫应用程序对后续剂量就诊的影响。
由于难民儿童疫苗接种有效干预措施的证据有限，该领域的研究非常必要。该项目将对难民健康和公共卫生系统产生重大影响。在约旦和中东地区，疫苗接种水平较低。鉴于该地区难民的涌入，确保儿童中的高疫苗接种水平至关重要。
国际注册报告识别号（IRRID）：PRR1-10.2196/13557
