Cargando…

Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?

Thanks to vaccines, many people are not exposed to the risks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). This, however, results in growing popularity of antivaccine movements and affects global and local epidemiological situation. Vaccine hesitancy has become a significant problem not only...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Czajka, Hanna, Czajka, Szymon, Biłas, Paweł, Pałka, Paulina, Jędrusik, Szczepan, Czapkiewicz, Anna
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7344516/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32575879
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124461
_version_ 1783555962109427712
author Czajka, Hanna
Czajka, Szymon
Biłas, Paweł
Pałka, Paulina
Jędrusik, Szczepan
Czapkiewicz, Anna
author_facet Czajka, Hanna
Czajka, Szymon
Biłas, Paweł
Pałka, Paulina
Jędrusik, Szczepan
Czapkiewicz, Anna
author_sort Czajka, Hanna
collection PubMed
description Thanks to vaccines, many people are not exposed to the risks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). This, however, results in growing popularity of antivaccine movements and affects global and local epidemiological situation. Vaccine hesitancy has become a significant problem not only for epidemiologists but also for practitioners. Fortunately, the hesitant group seems to be vulnerable to intervention, and studies indicate that these patients can be persuaded to undergo vaccinations. The aim of the present study was to determine the factors most strongly affecting vaccination-related attitudes and decisions. An anonymous, self-administered survey consisting of demographic data and single select multiple-choice questions regarding vaccination was conducted. The voluntary study included secondary school pupils, medical and nonmedical students, healthcare professionals, hospital and clinic patients as well as parents. A total of 7950 survey forms were distributed between January 2018 and June 2019 in south-eastern Poland. A total of 6432 respondents (80.2%) completed a questionnaire that was eligible for analysis. The positive attitude toward vaccination was significantly affected by older age, by the fact of obtaining information on vaccinations from a physician, this information’s higher quality (assessed in school grade scale), higher level of knowledge on vaccines and by the fact of denying the association between vaccination and autism in children (p < 0.001). The probability of supporting vaccinations was almost eight-fold lower among respondents believing the vaccine–autism relationship. Chance of supporting vaccination doubled in the group with a higher knowledge level. The individuals not provided with expert information on vaccination were twice as often unconvinced. Age, education and having children significantly affected the attitude toward influenza immunization (p < 0.001). Older, better educated respondents and those having children were more positive about vaccinations. The medical community still exert decisive effects on attitudes toward vaccinations. High-quality information provided by them is of great importance. Skillful and competent provision of evidence-based information disproving the myth about vaccine–autism connection and proper education of medical staff is essential in molding positive attitudes toward vaccinations.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7344516
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-73445162020-07-09 Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations? Czajka, Hanna Czajka, Szymon Biłas, Paweł Pałka, Paulina Jędrusik, Szczepan Czapkiewicz, Anna Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Thanks to vaccines, many people are not exposed to the risks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). This, however, results in growing popularity of antivaccine movements and affects global and local epidemiological situation. Vaccine hesitancy has become a significant problem not only for epidemiologists but also for practitioners. Fortunately, the hesitant group seems to be vulnerable to intervention, and studies indicate that these patients can be persuaded to undergo vaccinations. The aim of the present study was to determine the factors most strongly affecting vaccination-related attitudes and decisions. An anonymous, self-administered survey consisting of demographic data and single select multiple-choice questions regarding vaccination was conducted. The voluntary study included secondary school pupils, medical and nonmedical students, healthcare professionals, hospital and clinic patients as well as parents. A total of 7950 survey forms were distributed between January 2018 and June 2019 in south-eastern Poland. A total of 6432 respondents (80.2%) completed a questionnaire that was eligible for analysis. The positive attitude toward vaccination was significantly affected by older age, by the fact of obtaining information on vaccinations from a physician, this information’s higher quality (assessed in school grade scale), higher level of knowledge on vaccines and by the fact of denying the association between vaccination and autism in children (p < 0.001). The probability of supporting vaccinations was almost eight-fold lower among respondents believing the vaccine–autism relationship. Chance of supporting vaccination doubled in the group with a higher knowledge level. The individuals not provided with expert information on vaccination were twice as often unconvinced. Age, education and having children significantly affected the attitude toward influenza immunization (p < 0.001). Older, better educated respondents and those having children were more positive about vaccinations. The medical community still exert decisive effects on attitudes toward vaccinations. High-quality information provided by them is of great importance. Skillful and competent provision of evidence-based information disproving the myth about vaccine–autism connection and proper education of medical staff is essential in molding positive attitudes toward vaccinations. MDPI 2020-06-21 2020-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7344516/ /pubmed/32575879 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124461 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Czajka, Hanna
Czajka, Szymon
Biłas, Paweł
Pałka, Paulina
Jędrusik, Szczepan
Czapkiewicz, Anna
Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?
title Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?
title_full Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?
title_fullStr Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?
title_full_unstemmed Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?
title_short Who or What Influences the Individuals’ Decision-Making Process Regarding Vaccinations?
title_sort who or what influences the individuals’ decision-making process regarding vaccinations?
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7344516/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32575879
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124461
work_keys_str_mv AT czajkahanna whoorwhatinfluencestheindividualsdecisionmakingprocessregardingvaccinations
AT czajkaszymon whoorwhatinfluencestheindividualsdecisionmakingprocessregardingvaccinations
AT biłaspaweł whoorwhatinfluencestheindividualsdecisionmakingprocessregardingvaccinations
AT pałkapaulina whoorwhatinfluencestheindividualsdecisionmakingprocessregardingvaccinations
AT jedrusikszczepan whoorwhatinfluencestheindividualsdecisionmakingprocessregardingvaccinations
AT czapkiewiczanna whoorwhatinfluencestheindividualsdecisionmakingprocessregardingvaccinations