In a study, researchers show that pediatricians face increasing pressure to spread out recommended vaccine schedules as requested by parents, putting children at risk of acquiring preventable diseases because they did not receive their shots in a timely manner.

Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study found that nearly all pediatricians as well as healthcare providers encounter these kinds of requests from parents and that quite a number of doctors concede, compromising on vaccine schedules in an effort to establish trust with families despite feeling children are being exposed to more risk.

For the study, Allison Kempe, M.D., M.P.H. and colleagues surveyed pediatricians and family doctors between June and October 2012 through mail and email regarding how often they receive requests to spread out vaccine schedules for children below two years old.

Results showed that, on average, 93 percent of the respondents receive requests to spread out vaccination from parents every month. Majority of the pediatricians and family doctors part of the study reported agreeing to requests "sometimes" or "often/always" despite 87 percent of them knowing that the delays place additional risk of contracting preventable diseases on children and 84 percent thinking that the separating visits which means repeated injections at each instance causes children more pain.

Some of the reasons the respondents reported that parents used when making the request to spread out vaccinations include concern over short- and long-term complications, believing that their child has low chances of acquiring a vaccine-preventable disease and worry over their child developing autism because of the vaccine.

Many of the respondents said they tried many ways to convince parents to follow the prescribed vaccination schedule but few of these strategies proved to be effective.

The researchers pointed out that discussions about vaccine efficacy and safety must start as early as during pregnancy to provide parents with ample time to work out their concerns. And with many parents heavily influenced about what is socially accepted, pediatricians and healthcare providers must leverage social media and public messaging means to put vaccination in good light. However, the researchers admit that additional study is needed to determine what ways are effective in convincing parents to stick with vaccination schedules and countering misinformation that puts children at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases.

The study received funding support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was carried out by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus' Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center.