Narita Masami, Yamamoto Midori, Sakurai Kenichi, Mori Chisato
Department of Sustainable Health Science, Graduate School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University.
Department of Recruit and Career Development, Ono Pharmaceutical Co.
J Epidemiol. 2025 Apr 5;35(4):178-186. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20240192. Epub 2025 Jan 31.
Parents' educational background is presumed to influence the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases in children through their decisions about vaccinations and other family lifestyle choices. Regarding voluntary vaccination, a household's economic situation may also be associated with non-vaccination. Therefore, this study investigated the association between parental education and vaccine-preventable diseases (varicella, mumps, influenza [flu], pertussis, measles, and rubella) in children, which currently remains elusive.
We used datasets from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, which included 104,062 fetal records; our study population comprised 80,930 children up to the age of 3 years. The associations between parental educational background and children's infectious diseases were examined using binomial logistic regression analysis. The mediating effects of household income, vaccination, and smoking were examined using a path analysis.
For varicella, mumps, and influenza covered by voluntary vaccination, a higher education level of the father was associated with a lower incidence of infection. The association between mothers' education and children's infection was limited. There were both income-mediated and non-income-mediated pathways between parental education and voluntary vaccination. For pertussis, measles, and rubella, which are covered by routine vaccines, there was no association between parental education and the child's infection.
An association between parental education and childhood infections was observed. Providing financial support for vaccination and communicating the benefits of vaccination in a way that parents at all levels of education can understand may help reduce the incidence of infectious diseases among children.
一般认为，父母的教育背景会通过他们在疫苗接种及其他家庭生活方式选择方面的决定，影响儿童疫苗可预防疾病的发病率。关于自愿接种疫苗，家庭经济状况也可能与未接种疫苗有关。因此，本研究调查了父母教育程度与儿童疫苗可预防疾病（水痘、腮腺炎、流感、百日咳、麻疹和风疹）之间的关联，目前这一关联仍不明确。
我们使用了日本环境与儿童研究的数据集，其中包括104,062份胎儿记录；我们的研究对象包括80,930名3岁以下儿童。使用二项逻辑回归分析检验父母教育背景与儿童传染病之间的关联。使用路径分析检验家庭收入、疫苗接种和吸烟的中介作用。
对于自愿接种的水痘、腮腺炎和流感，父亲的教育水平较高与感染发生率较低相关。母亲的教育与儿童感染之间的关联有限。父母教育与自愿接种疫苗之间存在收入介导和非收入介导的途径。对于常规疫苗涵盖的百日咳、麻疹和风疹，父母教育与儿童感染之间没有关联。
观察到父母教育与儿童感染之间存在关联。为疫苗接种提供财政支持，并以各级教育程度的父母都能理解的方式宣传疫苗接种的益处，可能有助于降低儿童传染病的发病率。
