Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India

Introduction: Vaccination is an effective public health intervention; however, coverage of vaccination is declining in states like Tamil Nadu which have good health indicators. Objective: To evaluate the presence of vaccine hesitancy among parents of children between 1 and 5 years of age attending t...

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Main Authors: Sahana Sankara Narayanan, Aparna Jayaraman, Vijayaprasad Gopichandran
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2018-01-01
Series:Indian Journal of Community and Family Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ijcfm.org/article.asp?issn=2395-2113;year=2018;volume=4;issue=2;spage=31;epage=36;aulast=Narayanan
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author Sahana Sankara Narayanan
Aparna Jayaraman
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran
author_facet Sahana Sankara Narayanan
Aparna Jayaraman
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran
author_sort Sahana Sankara Narayanan
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Vaccination is an effective public health intervention; however, coverage of vaccination is declining in states like Tamil Nadu which have good health indicators. Objective: To evaluate the presence of vaccine hesitancy among parents of children between 1 and 5 years of age attending the paediatric out patient department of a tertiary care hospital in Chennai and to assess its relationship with attitudes towards vaccines. Material & Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 100 consecutively sampled parents of children between 1 and 5 years of age attending a tertiary care paediatric out-patient department. The Parental Attitude towards Childhood Vaccines scale of vaccine hesitancy and the Beliefs and Attitudes towards Childhood Vaccines scale were used to measure vaccine hesitancy and beliefs and attitudes towards vaccination respectively. The data were analysed descriptively and statistical correlation between vaccination attitudes and vaccination hesitancy were studied. Results: In the predominantly urban, educated, working class population, the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was 21%. But all the children had received complete vaccination appropriate for age. The major drivers for vaccine hesitancy were suspicions about newer vaccines, concerns about adverse effects of vaccines and the perception that there is no need for vaccines against uncommon diseases. The vaccine hesitancy scores were negatively correlated with the vaccine attitude scores (R = -0.266; p = 0.007). Conclusion: Vaccine hesitancy is present among the sampled mothers and is influenced mainly by concerns regarding safety of newer vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy needs to be clearly addressed for strengthening the Universal Immunization Program.
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spelling doaj.art-07c0ed27d3a5450ab9c2c9fe712a32902023-03-21T08:35:19ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Community and Family Medicine2395-21132018-01-0142313610.4103/2395-2113.251436Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, IndiaSahana Sankara NarayananAparna JayaramanVijayaprasad GopichandranIntroduction: Vaccination is an effective public health intervention; however, coverage of vaccination is declining in states like Tamil Nadu which have good health indicators. Objective: To evaluate the presence of vaccine hesitancy among parents of children between 1 and 5 years of age attending the paediatric out patient department of a tertiary care hospital in Chennai and to assess its relationship with attitudes towards vaccines. Material & Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 100 consecutively sampled parents of children between 1 and 5 years of age attending a tertiary care paediatric out-patient department. The Parental Attitude towards Childhood Vaccines scale of vaccine hesitancy and the Beliefs and Attitudes towards Childhood Vaccines scale were used to measure vaccine hesitancy and beliefs and attitudes towards vaccination respectively. The data were analysed descriptively and statistical correlation between vaccination attitudes and vaccination hesitancy were studied. Results: In the predominantly urban, educated, working class population, the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy was 21%. But all the children had received complete vaccination appropriate for age. The major drivers for vaccine hesitancy were suspicions about newer vaccines, concerns about adverse effects of vaccines and the perception that there is no need for vaccines against uncommon diseases. The vaccine hesitancy scores were negatively correlated with the vaccine attitude scores (R = -0.266; p = 0.007). Conclusion: Vaccine hesitancy is present among the sampled mothers and is influenced mainly by concerns regarding safety of newer vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy needs to be clearly addressed for strengthening the Universal Immunization Program.http://www.ijcfm.org/article.asp?issn=2395-2113;year=2018;volume=4;issue=2;spage=31;epage=36;aulast=Narayananvaccinationvaccine hesitancyattitudes towards vaccinationchildhood vaccines
spellingShingle Sahana Sankara Narayanan
Aparna Jayaraman
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran
Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India
Indian Journal of Community and Family Medicine
vaccination
vaccine hesitancy
attitudes towards vaccination
childhood vaccines
title Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India
title_full Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India
title_fullStr Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India
title_full_unstemmed Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India
title_short Vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1-5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Chennai, India
title_sort vaccine hesitancy and attitude towards vaccination among parents of children between 1 5 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in chennai india
topic vaccination
vaccine hesitancy
attitudes towards vaccination
childhood vaccines
url http://www.ijcfm.org/article.asp?issn=2395-2113;year=2018;volume=4;issue=2;spage=31;epage=36;aulast=Narayanan
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