Journal of Community Health, Vol. 28, No. 2, April 2003 ( 2003) A PRENATAL INTERVENTION STUDY TO IMPROVE TIMELINESS OF IMMUNIZATION INITIATION IN LATINO INFANTS Marı ´a Luisa Zu ´n ˜iga de Nuncio, PhD; Philip R. Nader, MD; Mark H. Sawyer, MD; Michelle De Guire, MSW, MPH; Radmila Prislin, PhD; John P. Elder, PhD, MPH ABSTRACT: This was a prospective randomized cohort study to assess the effectiveness of an educational immunization intervention with preg- nant Latinas on timely initiation of infant immunization. Study partici- pants were recruited from two community clinics in north San Diego County. A total of three hundred and fifty-two Latinas in the third tri- mester of pregnancy were recruited and randomly assigned to interven- tion or control groups. Participants received either a culturally and lin- guistically appropriate session on infant immunization (intervention) or a session on prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (control). The main outcome measures were pre-post immunization knowledge change and infant immunization status at 92 days. Immunization knowl- edge increased significantly in the intervention group [p < .0001, 95%CI (1.76, 2.47)]. No difference was found between groups in immunization series initiation: 95 percent of the children in the intervention group were up-to-date by 92 days from birth, and 93 percent of the control group was up-to-date at 92 days. The lack of significant association be- tween receiving immunization education and infant immunization series initiation suggests that parent education may be necessary but not suffi- cient for timely immunization, particularly in clinics with effective well- child programs. Given the significant increase in immunization knowl- edge, the broader and perhaps more important implication is that lan- guage- and culturally specific infant health education messages in the prenatal period may have a positive long-term impact on the child’s health and promote well-child care overall. Future studies should assess Marı ´a Luisa Zu ´n ˜iga de Nuncio is Assistant Project Scientist, Philip R. Nader and Mark H. Sawyer, Professors of Pediatrics, and Michelle De Guire, Community Program Health Manager, all at the University of California, San Diego, Division of Community Pediatrics, Partnership of Immuniza- tion Providers, La Jolla, CA. Radmila Prislin is Professor of Psychology, and John P. Elder, Professor in the Graduate School of Public Health, at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Marı ´a Luisa Zu ´n ˜iga de Nuncio, PhD, Division of Community Pediatrics, Dept. 0927, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0927; e-mail: mzuniga@ucsd.edu. This study was supported by the NCDC Grant #U60/CCU 9192985. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank the perinatal coordinators for their outstanding work in recruitment and educa- tion of study participants and Jesse Brennan, Sandra Ross, RN, BSN and the medical directors and staff of the community clinics for their support and technical assistance. 151 0094-5145/03/0400-00151/0  2003 Human Sciences Press, Inc.