Parental childhood vaccine hesitancy and the National Vaccination Programme, in Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Gomes, Filipa Isabel Abreu
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/164718
• topic: parental childhood vaccine hesitancy; vaccine confidence; vaccination schedule; trust in health professionals; hesitação vacinal em pais de crianças; confiança nas vacinas; esquema vacinal; confiança nos profissionais de saúde; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais

ABSTRACT - Introduction: Vaccine hesitancy is increasing in the European Union, despite the invaluable contribution of vaccination for populations’ health. This study aims to estimate the proportion of parental childhood vaccine hesitancy (PCVH) and to determine vaccination and Portuguese National Vaccination Programme (NVP) associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using an anonymous online questionnaire directed to parents of children aged 17 months old or less living in Portugal. An exploratory factor analysis was performed and five dimensions were created: 1. vaccine confidence; 2. access to enough/reliable information about vaccines; 3. access to NVP; 4. vaccination schedule; 5. trust in healthcare professionals’ information about vaccines. Its scores were extracted, and used in crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses, to estimate its association with PCVH. Results: PCVH proportion was estimated at 1.8% (95% Confidence Interval – 95% CI: 1.0%-3.0%; n=790). Vaccine confidence (adjusted Odds Ratio – aOR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.14-0.54), vaccination schedule (aOR=0.31, 95% CI: 0.15-0.58) and trust in information about vaccines provided by health professionals (aOR=0.30, 95% CI: 0.16-0.53) were protective dimensions of PCVH. Discussion and Conclusion: The low proportion of PCVH observed is coherent with the high immunisation coverage in Portugal. High confidence in vaccines is closely linked to low vaccine hesitancy. Aspects of the vaccination schedule, such as the number of simultaneous vaccines, contribute to parents’ decision on child’s vaccination. Health professionals play an important role in addressing this problem. Strategies focused on these dimensions may contribute to PCVH reduction.