Wada Koji, Smith Derek R
International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 1-21-1 Toyama Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2015 Apr 26;15:426. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1772-8.
Considering that public attitudes on vaccine safety and effectiveness are known to influence the success of vaccination campaigns, an increased understanding of socio-demographic characteristics might help improve future communication strategies and lead to greater rates of vaccination uptake. This study investigated associations between mistrust for governmental vaccine recommendations and the socio-demographic characteristics of working-age individuals in Japan.
A web-based, cross-sectional survey of vaccination attitudes was conducted among 3140 Japanese people aged 20 to 69 years. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine statistical associations between vaccination attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics, including the participant's most trusted information resources, demographic factors and general health conditions.
A total of 893 (28.4%) individuals reported a general mistrust towards the Japanese government's recommendations for vaccination. Respondents who did not trust official government sources were more likely to consider friends, the internet and books (for both genders); family members and newspapers (among women only); and television (among men only), as the most trusted resources for vaccination-related information. Relatively poor health in men was associated with a general mistrust of vaccination recommendations (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 1.37, 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI): 1.07-1.69). A trend towards worsening general health was also associated with decreasing trust in vaccination recommendations by female respondents as follows: those reporting relatively good health (aOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.02-1.47); relatively poor health (aOR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.22-1.90); and poor health (aOR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.41-2.63) (p for trend < 0.05).
Overall, this study suggests that communication strategies for rebuilding public trust in vaccination safety need to be urgently addressed in Japan. Such protocols must consider the information sources that working-age populations are most likely to utilize in this country, as well as their general health conditions, especially among females.
鉴于公众对疫苗安全性和有效性的态度会影响疫苗接种运动的成效，进一步了解社会人口特征可能有助于改进未来的沟通策略，并提高疫苗接种率。本研究调查了日本工作年龄人群对政府疫苗建议的不信任与社会人口特征之间的关联。
对3140名年龄在20至69岁的日本人进行了一项基于网络的疫苗接种态度横断面调查。采用多元逻辑回归分析来检验疫苗接种态度与社会人口特征之间的统计关联，包括参与者最信任的信息来源、人口因素和一般健康状况。
共有893人（28.4%）表示普遍不信任日本政府的疫苗接种建议。不信任官方政府信息来源的受访者更有可能将朋友、互联网和书籍（男女皆是）；家庭成员和报纸（仅女性）；以及电视（仅男性）视为疫苗相关信息的最可信来源。男性相对较差的健康状况与对疫苗接种建议的普遍不信任有关（调整后的优势比（aOR）：1.37，95%置信区间（95%CI）：1.07 - 1.69）。女性受访者中，总体健康状况恶化的趋势也与对疫苗接种建议的信任度下降有关，如下所示：报告健康状况相对良好者（aOR：1.24，95%CI：1.02 - 1.47）；健康状况相对较差者（aOR：1.55，95%CI：1.22 - 1.90）；以及健康状况差者（aOR：2.10，95%CI：1.41 - 2.63）（趋势p值<0.05）。
总体而言，本研究表明日本迫切需要制定重建公众对疫苗安全性信任的沟通策略。此类方案必须考虑该国工作年龄人群最可能使用的信息来源，以及他们的一般健康状况，尤其是女性群体。
