Case Study: Assessing CMV Awareness in Parents, Caregivers, and Clinicians

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that infects people of all ages. During pregnancy, CMV can pass to babies in utero, potentially causing birth defects or other health problems. In the United States, nearly 1 in 3 children is already infected with CMV by age 5, and over half of adults have been infected with CMV by age 40. However, past CDC research shows there is little public awareness about CMV; indicating a need for effective communication strategies about the virus. Through funding from a 5-year CDC Cooperative Agreement*, Karna supported the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Viral Diseases with the following activities to learn more about what parents knows about CMV, how they know it, how clinicians communicate with patients, and to test messaging:

Focus groups with parents and childcare workers
Triads with clinicians
Review of existing CDC web content
Survey of women of childbearing age

At-A-Glance

Strategies and Capabilities

Research

What we’ve done

Conducted focus groups with parents and caregivers to test educational messages and graphic concepts related to CMV
Facilitated triads with pediatricians, OBGYNs, and midwives to understand how they have conversations with patients about CMV, their knowledge of CMV and their vaccine attitudes
Implemented a large-scale survey of diverse women of childbearing age to gather insights about CMV knowledge and risk perception, gauge vaccine intention, and to test CMV related messages

Communication Strategy & Planning

What we’re doing

Providing recommendations based on formative research to inform CDC website updates, and tested CDC social media content and graphics

What we’re planning

Developing new tools and resources based on formative research

Project Highlights

Survey Findings

There was little awareness about CMV with only 15% of participants having heard of it.
Among those familiar with the virus, the most common source of information was from healthcare providers.
CMV was not perceived to be a big risk for many participants, and they were not concerned about contracting CMV.
Most participants felt as though the information in all messages was new to them.
Likelihood of vaccination increased if recommended by a healthcare provider and after learning more about CMV through the information in the messages presented.

Clinician Triads Findings

Clinicians are not regularly discussing CMV with pregnant patients. Key reasons included lacking prevention recommendations (in the absence of immunization) and not having enough time during appointments (i.e., prioritizing other topics).
Congenital CMV (cCMV), when a baby is born with a CMV infection, is perceived as low risk and as having low prevalence, with many clinicians noting they’ve only seen 1 or 2 cases during their career resulting in birth defects.
Participants believed that healthcare workers and childcare providers were at greatest risk for CMV infection.
For the most part, clinicians believed they are well educated about CMV, though some OBs expressed false information as fact, and a few midwives said they do not have enough knowledge about CMV.
Pediatricians identified opportunities to talk with patients about cCMV at pre-birth initial meetings and when they have a patient with a pregnant caregiver but said they rarely talk about cCMV due to limited time during appointments and low incidence.
The “go to” trusted sources for education and information about CMV varied somewhat by clinician type.

Parent Focus Group Findings

Focus group participants were unfamiliar with CMV and its risks associated with birth defects.
Participants needed more CMV data points and a comparison to another more common illness to help them understand its severity.
Participants were confused about testing protocols for CMV and needed more information.
Doctors were the leading trusted messengers, and healthcare facilities were the top location where people thought they would find information about CMV.
In general, participants felt they were already taking precautions that aligned with CMV prevention recommendations.

*This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling approximately $2.7 million over 2 years using tailored approaches to establish, enhance, and sustain partnerships that address the health of pregnant and postpartum women, with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.