Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University
Vaccine hesitancy has surfaced globally within the last few decades, and the fears and misconceptions of people about vaccine safety and effectiveness have been identified as key factors for their under-utilization. The familiarity, attitudes, and religious beliefs of the public and of future health...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-11-01
|
| Series: | European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/11/4/104 |
| _version_ | 1797505230617706496 |
|---|---|
| author | Ramdan M. Elkalmi Eman Dyab Azyyati Mohd Suhaimi Ali Qais Blebil Mohamed Hassan Elnaem Shazia Jamshed Márió Gajdács |
| author_facet | Ramdan M. Elkalmi Eman Dyab Azyyati Mohd Suhaimi Ali Qais Blebil Mohamed Hassan Elnaem Shazia Jamshed Márió Gajdács |
| author_sort | Ramdan M. Elkalmi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vaccine hesitancy has surfaced globally within the last few decades, and the fears and misconceptions of people about vaccine safety and effectiveness have been identified as key factors for their under-utilization. The familiarity, attitudes, and religious beliefs of the public and of future healthcare practitioners regarding vaccination are extensive areas needing exploration. The present exploratory cross-sectional study was designed, planned and carried out on students enrolled in health science and non-health science courses in one of the public universities of Malaysia. A research instrument that had been formulated, validated and subjected to reliability testing was used to collect the data, which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A response rate of 80.8% (n = 202) was obtained: the majority were female (n = 161, 79.7%), and had been vaccinated before (n = 190, 97.5%), while a mere 2% did not support vaccination for reasons pertaining to safety issues. The vaccine familiarity score was 10.79 ± 1.4, which significantly differed among the study disciplines (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The mean of the total attitude score was 14.95 ± 1.5, with no significant difference among demographics being noted. The mean of the total religious beliefs score was 24.29 ± 2.8 and significantly differed based on gender (<i>p</i> = 0.040) and study disciplines (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The current findings showed that the participants were familiar with vaccines and had generally positive attitudes and positive religious beliefs toward vaccination; thus, one can expect that their inclusion in immunization campaigns will generate positive outcomes of the immunization program. Although the current research reported few knowledge gaps, these may be handled with the introduction of a specialized immunization course at an undergraduate level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:15:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d321e8a85e04b1d90ceca0a5ce8c500 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2174-8144 2254-9625 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:15:39Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d321e8a85e04b1d90ceca0a5ce8c5002023-11-23T08:00:44ZengMDPI AGEuropean Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education2174-81442254-96252021-11-011141462147310.3390/ejihpe11040104Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public UniversityRamdan M. Elkalmi0Eman Dyab1Azyyati Mohd Suhaimi2Ali Qais Blebil3Mohamed Hassan Elnaem4Shazia Jamshed5Márió Gajdács6Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sabha, Sabha 00218, LibyaDepartment of Pharmaceutics, University of Tripoli, Tripoli 42300, LibyaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Bandar Puncak Alam, Shah Alam 42300, MalaysiaClinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Monash University, Malaysia, Subang Jaya 47500, MalaysiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan 25200, MalaysiaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu 21300, MalaysiaDepartment of Oral Biology and Experimental Dental Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Szeged, Tisza Lajos Körút 63, 6720 Szeged, HungaryVaccine hesitancy has surfaced globally within the last few decades, and the fears and misconceptions of people about vaccine safety and effectiveness have been identified as key factors for their under-utilization. The familiarity, attitudes, and religious beliefs of the public and of future healthcare practitioners regarding vaccination are extensive areas needing exploration. The present exploratory cross-sectional study was designed, planned and carried out on students enrolled in health science and non-health science courses in one of the public universities of Malaysia. A research instrument that had been formulated, validated and subjected to reliability testing was used to collect the data, which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A response rate of 80.8% (n = 202) was obtained: the majority were female (n = 161, 79.7%), and had been vaccinated before (n = 190, 97.5%), while a mere 2% did not support vaccination for reasons pertaining to safety issues. The vaccine familiarity score was 10.79 ± 1.4, which significantly differed among the study disciplines (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The mean of the total attitude score was 14.95 ± 1.5, with no significant difference among demographics being noted. The mean of the total religious beliefs score was 24.29 ± 2.8 and significantly differed based on gender (<i>p</i> = 0.040) and study disciplines (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The current findings showed that the participants were familiar with vaccines and had generally positive attitudes and positive religious beliefs toward vaccination; thus, one can expect that their inclusion in immunization campaigns will generate positive outcomes of the immunization program. Although the current research reported few knowledge gaps, these may be handled with the introduction of a specialized immunization course at an undergraduate level.https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/11/4/104attitudesknowledgevaccinationvaccine familiaritystudentsreligious beliefs |
| spellingShingle | Ramdan M. Elkalmi Eman Dyab Azyyati Mohd Suhaimi Ali Qais Blebil Mohamed Hassan Elnaem Shazia Jamshed Márió Gajdács Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education attitudes knowledge vaccination vaccine familiarity students religious beliefs |
| title | Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University |
| title_full | Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University |
| title_fullStr | Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University |
| title_full_unstemmed | Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University |
| title_short | Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University |
| title_sort | attitude familiarity and religious beliefs about vaccination among health science and non health science students in a malaysian public university |
| topic | attitudes knowledge vaccination vaccine familiarity students religious beliefs |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/11/4/104 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ramdanmelkalmi attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity AT emandyab attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity AT azyyatimohdsuhaimi attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity AT aliqaisblebil attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity AT mohamedhassanelnaem attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity AT shaziajamshed attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity AT mariogajdacs attitudefamiliarityandreligiousbeliefsaboutvaccinationamonghealthscienceandnonhealthsciencestudentsinamalaysianpublicuniversity |