Investigating Vaccine Hesitancy and Refusal Among Parents of Children Under Five: A Community-based Study

Abstract

Introduction: Vaccine hesitancy and refusal threaten to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases. This problem is not new, and gaining an increasing importance due to the increase in its incidence. The present study aims to determine the frequency of factors related to vaccine hesitancy and refusal among parents of children under five.

Materials and Methods: A community-based study was conducted with 402 parents of children under five in a province of Turkey between October 2020 and February 2021. The number of samples to be included in the study was determined by proportional cluster sampling. Data were collected using the WHO SAGE "Vaccine Hesitancy Survey Questions" and "Vaccine Hesitancy Scale".

Results: Of parents, 19.7% were hesitant about childhood vaccines. The rejection rate of recommended vaccines (special or free vaccines) was 18.2%. The rate of parents who refused the vaccines offered free of charge by the Ministry of Health was 0.9%. Vaccine hesitancy was higher among fathers, those with undergraduate and higher education, parents over 42 years of age, and those with a higher income economic status. Having heard or read negative information about vaccines increased the likelihood of vaccine hesitancy by 13.5 times. The parents' Vaccine Hesitancy Scale score was 1.68 +/- 0.53.

Conclusion: According to the study results, vaccine hesitancy and refusal have a structure affected by many factors. The most important of these factors is the content of knowledge about vaccines.