The present study determined the effectiveness of text/telephone outreach messages, with and without COVID-19 vaccine information.

It included adolescents aged 12-17 years. Patients were eligible if they did not have an adolescent well-care (AWC) visit in the past year or scheduled in the next 45 days or an active electronic health record portal account. 

The study randomized participants to the Standard Message, COVID-19 Vaccine Message, or No Message (control) group and delivered two text/telephone calls (per family preference) to the message groups. It looked for AWC visit completion within eight weeks, and AWC visit scheduled within two weeks and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine within eight weeks.

The study observed-

• Enrollment of 1235 adolescents (mean age = 14years, 51.6% male, 76.7% Black, 4.1% Hispanic/Latinx, 88.3% publicly insured).
• Higher odds of scheduling an AWC visit in the Standard Message group than in the control group and COVID-19 Vaccine Message group.
• Similar odds of completing an AWC visit (Standard Message group vs. control group, OR = 1.35; COVID-19 Vaccine Message group vs. control group, OR = 1.33).
• Adolescents in the Standard Message group were twice as likely as the control group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

This study indicates the minimal efficacy of the outreach messages, necessitating a need to address widening disparities.

Burkhardt MC, Berset AE, Xu Y. et al. Effect of Outreach Messages on Adolescent Well Child Visits and COVID-19 Vaccine Rates: An RCT. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2022. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.09.035