Department of Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
School of Public Health and Health Management, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Cent Eur J Public Health. 2022 Jun;30(2):99-106. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a7074.
Vaccine hesitancy presents one of the critical constraints in combating COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument for measuring factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
The key constructs in the study instrument were factors that constitute the "3C" model of vaccine hesitancy: Confidence, Complacency and Convenience. Using a cross-sectional, online survey design, the 8-item COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 667 adult citizens of Serbia in December 2020. We used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the model that assumes three latent variables. To ensure that the instrument measures the same constructs in different groups, the measurement invariance examination was conducted. To examine criterion validity, Spearman's correlation was applied to determine the association between the instrument total score and the single-item measuring the likelihood of getting vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
Confirmatory factor analysis established the three-factor structure, with subscales fitting within the "3C" model of vaccine hesitancy comprising confidence, convenience and complacency. The full scalar invariance was found across gender, and the partial scalar invariance was achieved for the age, region and education level. A higher level of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was associated with the lower likelihood to get vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Our scale is brief and consistent, maintaining a good fit across key socio-demographic subgroups. This result implies that the scale could be useful for quick assessment of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in various target populations.
疫苗犹豫是应对 COVID-19 大流行的关键制约因素之一。本研究旨在开发和验证一种用于测量导致 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫的因素的工具。
研究工具中的关键结构是构成疫苗犹豫“3C”模型的因素：信心、自满和便利。采用横断面、在线调查设计，于 2020 年 12 月向塞尔维亚 667 名成年公民样本发放了包含 8 个条目的 COVID-19 疫苗犹豫问卷。我们使用验证性因子分析来研究假设三个潜在变量的模型。为了确保工具在不同群体中测量相同的结构，进行了测量不变性检验。为了检验效标效度，应用 Spearman 相关来确定工具总分与测量接种 SARS-CoV-2 疫苗可能性的单个项目之间的关联。
验证性因子分析确立了三因素结构，子量表符合疫苗犹豫的“3C”模型，包括信心、便利和自满。在性别方面发现了全标量不变性，在年龄、地区和教育水平方面实现了部分标量不变性。COVID-19 疫苗犹豫程度越高，接种 SARS-CoV-2 病毒疫苗的可能性就越低。
我们的量表简洁一致，在关键社会人口亚组中保持良好的拟合度。这一结果意味着该量表可用于快速评估各种目标人群对 COVID-19 疫苗的犹豫程度。
