Voo James Yau Hon, Lean Qi Ying, Ming Long Chiau, Md Hanafiah Nur Hafzan, Al-Worafi Yaser Mohammed, Ibrahim Baharudin
School of Pharmaceutical Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia.
Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Kampus Bertam, Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang 13200, Malaysia.
Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Nov 17;9(11):1348. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9111348.
Incomplete childhood immunization against communicable diseases is a major concern and vaccine hesitancy remains a hurdle to overcome in primary vaccination programs. This study was to examine the parents' vaccine knowledge, awareness and hesitancy in relation to their children's immunization status.
A cross-sectional questionnaire study design was used. The parents who brought their children for immunization visit or follow-up at four public health clinics located in Sandakan district were invited to participate in this survey. Informed consent was obtained before each participant completed a hard copy of self-administered questionnaire in either English or Malay versions.
Of 405 parents responded, they generally had good knowledge and awareness of vaccines, only a small percentage (6.8%) of parents were found vaccine hesitant. There were significant differences in vaccine knowledge and awareness in those from different education levels and employment status; similarly, these two factors also significantly affected the vaccine hesitancy among the parents. The parents' knowledge score was found to be moderately associated with their awareness (r = 0.551, < 0.01) and inversely correlated to vaccine hesitancy (r = -0.397, < 0.01). Most of the children ( = 376, 92.8%) in the study were immunized. The children's immunization status was significantly associated with the parents' education level ( = 0.025). There was also a significant difference in the total vaccine knowledge scores between the groups of parents with different child immunization status ( = 0.05).
This study revealed that parents with higher education had a better knowledge of vaccinations, were less vaccine hesitant and were more likely to ensure that their children complete the recommended course of immunization. It is crucial to ensure parents are well-informed about the safety and efficacy of vaccines so that the children are protected from communicable diseases by the child vaccination program.
儿童针对传染病的免疫接种不完全是一个主要问题，而疫苗犹豫仍然是初级疫苗接种计划中需要克服的障碍。本研究旨在调查父母关于其子女免疫接种状况的疫苗知识、意识和犹豫情况。
采用横断面问卷调查研究设计。邀请在山打根地区四家公共卫生诊所带孩子进行免疫接种就诊或随访的父母参与本调查。在每位参与者以英文或马来文版本完成一份自行填写的纸质问卷之前，获得了知情同意。
在405名做出回应的父母中，他们总体上对疫苗有良好的知识和意识，仅发现一小部分（6.8%）的父母对疫苗持犹豫态度。不同教育水平和就业状况的父母在疫苗知识和意识方面存在显著差异；同样，这两个因素也显著影响了父母中的疫苗犹豫情况。发现父母的知识得分与他们的意识呈中度相关（r = 0.551，<0.01），与疫苗犹豫呈负相关（r = -0.397，<0.01）。研究中的大多数儿童（n = 376，92.8%）进行了免疫接种。儿童的免疫接种状况与父母的教育水平显著相关（p = 0.025）。不同儿童免疫接种状况的父母组之间的总疫苗知识得分也存在显著差异（p = 0.05）。
本研究表明，受教育程度较高的父母对疫苗接种有更好的了解，对疫苗的犹豫较少，并且更有可能确保他们的孩子完成推荐的免疫接种疗程。确保父母充分了解疫苗的安全性和有效性至关重要，以便通过儿童疫苗接种计划保护儿童免受传染病侵害。
