Psychosomatic Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Department of Nursing, Amol School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
BMC Public Health. 2024 May 18;24(1):1348. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18806-1.
Understanding vaccine hesitancy, as a critical concern for public health, cannot occur without the use of validated measures applicable and relevant to the samples they are assessing. The current study aimed to validate the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) and to investigate the predictors of children's vaccine hesitancy among parents from Australia, China, Iran, and Turkey. To ensure the high quality of the present observational study the STROBE checklist was utilized.
A cross-sectional study.
In total, 6,073 parent participants completed the web-based survey between 8 August 2021 and 1 October 2021. The content and construct validity of the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale was assessed. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega were used to assess the scale's internal consistency, composite reliability (C.R.) and maximal reliability (MaxR) were used to assess the construct reliability. Multiple linear regression was used to predict parental vaccine hesitancy from gender, social media activity, and perceived financial well-being.
The results found that the VHS had a two-factor structure (i.e., lack of confidence and risk) and a total of 9 items. The measure showed metric invariance across four very different countries/cultures, showed evidence of good reliability, and showed evidence of validity. As expected, analyses indicated that parental vaccine hesitancy was higher in people who identify as female, more affluent, and more active on social media.
The present research marks one of the first studies to evaluate vaccine hesitancy in multiple countries that demonstrated VHS validity and reliability. Findings from this study have implications for future research examining vaccine hesitancy and vaccine-preventable diseases and community health nurses.
理解疫苗犹豫，作为公共卫生的一个关键关注点，如果不使用适用于和相关于他们评估的样本的经过验证的措施，是不可能实现的。本研究旨在验证疫苗犹豫量表（VHS），并调查来自澳大利亚、中国、伊朗和土耳其的父母的儿童疫苗犹豫的预测因素。为了确保本观察性研究的高质量，使用了 STROBE 清单。
横断面研究。
共有 6073 名家长参与者在 2021 年 8 月 8 日至 10 月 1 日期间完成了在线调查。评估了疫苗犹豫量表的内容和结构效度。Cronbach's alpha 和 McDonald's omega 用于评估量表的内部一致性，复合可靠性（C.R.）和最大可靠性（MaxR）用于评估结构可靠性。多元线性回归用于预测父母的疫苗犹豫程度，预测变量为性别、社交媒体活动和感知财务状况。
结果发现，VHS 具有双因素结构（即缺乏信心和风险）和共 9 个项目。该测量在四个非常不同的国家/文化中具有度量不变性，具有良好的可靠性证据，并具有有效性证据。正如预期的那样，分析表明，女性、富裕和更活跃于社交媒体的父母的疫苗犹豫程度更高。
本研究是评估多个国家的疫苗犹豫情况的首批研究之一，证明了 VHS 的有效性和可靠性。这项研究的结果对未来研究疫苗犹豫和疫苗可预防疾病以及社区健康护士具有影响。
