University of Engineering & Management, Kolkata, India.
Cradle Fertility Centre, Kolkata, Chikitsa Medicare Centre Pvt Ltd, Kolkata, India.
Int J Health Plann Manage. 2022 Jul;37(4):2063-2080. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3449. Epub 2022 Feb 28.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted human lives across the world. In a country like India, with the second highest population in the world, impact of COVID-19 has been diverse and multidimensional. Under such circumstances, vaccination against COVID-19 infection is claimed to be one of the major solutions to contain the pandemic. Understanding of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) measures are essential prerequisites to design suitable intervention programs. This paper examines the different KAP factors in Indians towards their decision of vaccine uptake.
An online questionnaire was administered to Indian respondents. (Pilot study: n = 100, Main study: n = 221) to assess their existing knowledge on COVID-19 infections and vaccination, attitude and intentions towards COVID-19 vaccines and their decision towards COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
The findings highlighted that existing knowledge on COVID-19 infections and vaccination directly impacted their attitude and intention towards vaccination. The attitude and intention towards COVID-19 vaccines directly impacted their practice of undergoing COVID-19 vaccination. Further, there was a statistically significant and considerably large indirect effect of existing knowledge on COVID-19 infections and vaccination on the practice of undergoing COVID-19 vaccination through attitude and intention towards the vaccine. There was no direct effect of Knowledge (existing knowledge on COVID-19 infections and vaccination) on Practice (decision to undergo COVID-19 vaccination). Therefore, Attitude and intention towards COVID-19 vaccine is the primary mediator between Knowledge (existing knowledge on COVID-19 infections and vaccination) and Practice (decision to undergo COVID-19 vaccination).
Participants decision towards COVID-19 vaccination decisions are strongly related to their attitude and intentions that confirms the strong role of attitude towards success of COVID-19 vaccination programme. Therefore, 'person-centric' attitude based positive intervention strategies that links their prior knowledge on COVID-19 infections and vaccination must be designed for greater vaccine acceptance amongst Indians.
COVID-19 大流行对全球人类生活产生了重大影响。在印度这样一个人口位居世界第二的国家，COVID-19 的影响是多样化和多方面的。在这种情况下，接种 COVID-19 疫苗被认为是控制大流行的主要解决方案之一。了解知识、态度和实践（KAP）措施是设计合适干预计划的必要前提。本文研究了印度人对疫苗接种决定的不同 KAP 因素。
我们向印度受访者发放了在线问卷（预调查：n=100；主调查：n=221），以评估他们对 COVID-19 感染和疫苗接种的现有知识、对 COVID-19 疫苗的态度和意图，以及他们对 COVID-19 疫苗接种的决定。
研究结果表明，对 COVID-19 感染和疫苗接种的现有知识直接影响他们对疫苗接种的态度和意图。对 COVID-19 疫苗的态度和意图直接影响他们接受 COVID-19 疫苗接种的实践。此外，对 COVID-19 感染和疫苗接种的现有知识对接受 COVID-19 疫苗接种的实践有显著且相当大的间接影响，这是通过对疫苗的态度和意图实现的。知识（对 COVID-19 感染和疫苗接种的现有知识）对实践（决定接受 COVID-19 疫苗接种）没有直接影响。因此，对 COVID-19 疫苗的态度和意图是知识（对 COVID-19 感染和疫苗接种的现有知识）和实践（决定接受 COVID-19 疫苗接种）之间的主要中介。
参与者对 COVID-19 疫苗接种决定与他们的态度和意图密切相关，这证实了态度在 COVID-19 疫苗接种计划成功中的重要作用。因此，必须为印度人设计以“以人为本”为基础的积极干预策略，将他们对 COVID-19 感染和疫苗接种的现有知识联系起来，以提高疫苗接种的接受度。
