Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
São João University Hospital Center, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 28;19(15):9268. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159268.
Vaccine hesitation is a topic of utmost importance, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as a clear reminder of its timeliness. Besides evaluating COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in a sample of Portuguese people, this study aims at understanding cognitive and emotional representations related to vaccination, and their influence on vaccination hesitation. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 27 December 2020 and 27 January 2021. It assessed cognitive and emotional COVID-19 representations; vaccination status; cognitive and emotional representations of vaccination and perceived necessity and concerns about vaccines. Of 31 × 58 participants, 91% accepted taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Among several other significant findings, women (71.3%) more often considered that the pandemic affected their lives (p < 0.001) and were more often concerned with being infected (p < 0.001). Likewise, there were significantly more female participants concerned about taking a COVID-19 vaccine and its possible effects, when compared to the number of male participants (p < 0.001). The number of participants with a higher education level that were more worried about becoming infected was greater (p = 0.001), when compared with those less educated. Regarding age groups, people aged 18 to 24 had fewer concerned participants (9.6%), while the number of individuals aged 55 to 64 had the most (p < 0.001). Somewhat surprisingly, perceiving oneself as extremely informed about COVID-19 was not associated with greater vaccine acceptance (OR = 1.534 [1.160−2.029]; (p = 0.003)). Moreover, people aged 25 to 64 years old and with lower education level were more likely not to accept vaccination (OR = 2.799 [1.085−7.221]; (p = 0.033)). Finally, being more concerned about taking a vaccine lowers its acceptance (OR = 4.001 [2.518−6.356]; (p < 0.001)). Cognitive and emotional representations have a great impact and are reliable predictors of vaccine acceptance. Thus, it is of extreme importance that public health messages be adapted to the different characteristics of the population.
疫苗犹豫是一个极其重要的话题，COVID-19 大流行清楚地提醒了我们这一点的及时性。除了评估葡萄牙人群对 COVID-19 疫苗的接受程度外，本研究还旨在了解与疫苗接种相关的认知和情感表现，以及它们对疫苗犹豫的影响。这是一项于 2020 年 12 月 27 日至 2021 年 1 月 27 日期间进行的横断面在线调查。它评估了 COVID-19 的认知和情感表现；疫苗接种状况；疫苗接种的认知和情感表现以及对疫苗接种必要性和担忧的看法。在 31×58 名参与者中，91%的人接受接种 COVID-19 疫苗。在其他一些重要发现中，女性（71.3%）更多地认为大流行影响了她们的生活（p<0.001），并且更多地担心被感染（p<0.001）。同样，与男性参与者相比，更多的女性参与者对接种 COVID-19 疫苗及其可能的影响表示担忧（p<0.001）。具有较高教育水平的参与者对被感染的担忧程度更大（p=0.001），而受教育程度较低的参与者则较少有此担忧。在年龄组方面，18 至 24 岁的人群中，有担忧的参与者人数较少（9.6%），而 55 至 64 岁的人群中，有担忧的参与者人数最多（p<0.001）。令人有些惊讶的是，认为自己对 COVID-19 有极高的了解并不与更高的疫苗接受度相关（OR=1.534[1.160-2.029]；（p=0.003））。此外，25 至 64 岁且教育程度较低的人群更不可能接受疫苗接种（OR=2.799[1.085-7.221]；（p=0.033））。最后，对接种疫苗的担忧程度越高，对疫苗的接受程度越低（OR=4.001[2.518-6.356]；（p<0.001））。认知和情感表现具有重大影响，是疫苗接种接受度的可靠预测因素。因此，公共卫生信息必须根据人口的不同特征进行调整，这一点极其重要。
