Gialama Marilena, Kleisiaris Christos, Malliarou Maria, Papagiannis Dimitrios, Papathanasiou Ioanna V, Karavasileiadou Savvato, Almegewly Wafa Hamad, Tsaras Konstantinos
Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece.
Department of Community and Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Jul 23;12(15):1460. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12151460.
Vaccine hesitancy is an important public health issue referring to concerns about the safety and efficacy of vaccination. Within a framework, this study aimed to assess the cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Greek version of the adult Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (aVHS) as well as to identify the determinants of vaccine hesitancy among a large regional population in central Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted enrolling 300 adults who had received primary healthcare services in the Health Centers and Local Health Units of the Magnesia Region from October to December 2022. The aVHS and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) were used to identify vaccine hesitancy and the dispositional level of optimism, respectively. For survey translation, the procedure of forward and backward translation was followed. Also, the aVHS was tested in a pilot study with a sample of 18 responders. Construct validity and internal consistency reliability were investigated via exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficients, respectively. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis were used to determine predictors for vaccine hesitancy. Factor analyses indicated that the aVHS comprises two constructs ("lack of confidence" and "risk perception") explaining 68.9% of the total variance. The Cronbach's alpha of the total scale was 0.884, indicating its high internal consistency. Participants who lived in rural areas, had a lower annual income, and reported a lower level of optimism showed a higher lack of confidence in vaccination. On the other hand, people aged above 45 years old who had graduated from high school or elementary school and were unemployed showed greater aversion to the risks of side effects. Finally, certain socio-demographic characteristics were associated with vaccine hesitancy. Our data suggest that the aVHS is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring vaccine-related attitudes and perceptions in Greek society, providing meaningful insight into designing vaccination-related preventive interventions in the community.
疫苗犹豫是一个重要的公共卫生问题，指的是对疫苗安全性和有效性的担忧。在此框架内，本研究旨在评估成人疫苗犹豫量表（aVHS）希腊语版本的文化适应性、有效性和可靠性，并确定希腊中部一个大区域人口中疫苗犹豫的决定因素。2022年10月至12月，在马格尼西亚地区的健康中心和地方卫生单位接受初级医疗服务的300名成年人中进行了一项横断面研究。aVHS和修订后的生活取向测试（LOT-R）分别用于识别疫苗犹豫和乐观的性格水平。对于调查问卷的翻译，遵循了正向和反向翻译程序。此外，aVHS在一项有18名应答者的试点研究中进行了测试。分别通过探索性和验证性因素分析以及克朗巴赫α系数来研究结构效度和内部一致性可靠性。使用简单和多元线性回归分析来确定疫苗犹豫的预测因素。因素分析表明，aVHS包含两个结构（“缺乏信心”和“风险认知”），解释了总方差的68.9%。整个量表的克朗巴赫α系数为0.884，表明其内部一致性较高。居住在农村地区、年收入较低且乐观水平较低的参与者对疫苗接种的信心较低。另一方面，45岁以上、高中毕业或小学毕业且失业的人对副作用风险表现出更大的厌恶。最后，某些社会人口特征与疫苗犹豫有关。我们的数据表明，aVHS是一种有效且可靠的工具，可用于测量希腊社会中与疫苗相关的态度和看法，为设计社区疫苗接种相关的预防干预措施提供有意义的见解。
