A significant number of parents who intend taking their child for the MMR vaccine do not end up doing so, a new study has suggested.
Of more than 2,000 parents due to have their children vaccinated in the west of Ireland earlier this year, 94 per cent indicated in a questionnaire they were very or extremely likely to bring their child for the MMR to protect against measles, mumps and rubella.
However when they were followed up only 70 per cent of them had brought their child for the MMR within three months of receiving a letter to do so.
Dr Jane Walsh, one of those behind the study, said demographic factors such as the parents' marital status, education, the number of children they had, where they lived, and whether they were in paid employment were unrelated to whether they went on to take their child for vaccination.
However parents who felt they had "insufficient information" about the MMR jab were less likely to attend.
Some 27 per cent of those who felt they had insufficient information did not attend, compared to 19 per cent of those who felt they had sufficient information.
Dr Walsh, of the department of psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway, said it was also found that parents who saw the diseases which the MMR protected against as more severe were the most likely to make sure their child got the MMR.
She also found some parents deliberately delayed bringing their child for vaccination, and wanted to wait until the child was older.
Given that most parents exhibited a favourable attitude initially towards attending with their child for the MMR, the challenge for the Health Service Executive (HSE) was to translate this into action. "There is a gap between intention and behaviour, and this is a problem for the HSE to address."
Dr Walsh said uptake of the MMR was far below the 95 per cent needed to provide "herd immunity". Uptake varied across the State, and in the former western health board region where the study was conducted it hovered at around 80 per cent.
Given that people were influenced by having insufficient information and worries around having their child vaccinated, she felt GPs "may hold the key" to promoting the uptake of MMR by addressing parents' worries on a one-to-one basis.