Vaccine hesitancy among Dutch parents of newborn children and its associated characteristics, values and uptake of vaccines.

The acceptance of routine childhood vaccinations gradually declined in the Netherlands. We aimed to assess the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy (VH), measured with the vaccine hesitancy assessment tool, associated characteristics, values and prospective vaccine uptake among parents. A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which parents of children under three months completed a questionnaire. We analyzed associations between VH and characteristics, represented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs). Value scores were compared between participants who did and did not report VH, using an independent sample t-test. We subsequently calculated a relative risk (RR) to analyze the association between reported VH and vaccine uptake according to the recommended schedule at 6 months of age. We included 533 parents and found that 27 % of parents reported VH in their decision about routine childhood vaccines. Having a lower education level (aOR 2.13, CI 1.26-3.60), intermediate vaccination intention (aOR 6.23, CI 2.79-13.92) and a religious or anthroposophical life philosophy (aOR 1.76, CI 1.06-2.93) were positively associated with VH. Age (aOR 0.92, CI 0.87-0.97) was negatively associated with VH. Additionally, parents who reported VH emphasized the value vaccine risks (p = 0.003) more and the values benevolence (p < 0.001) and disease prevention (p < 0.001) less. Additionally, the RR for children not being vaccinated according to schedule was 2.5 (CI 1.05-5.77) among parents reporting VH compared to parents who did not. In conclusion, parents who reported VH were more likely to be less educated and younger, have a religious or anthroposophical life philosophy and were less certain about their vaccination intentions. Their children were more likely not to have been vaccinated according to the recommended schedule. We recommend further efforts to support parents in their decision-making about vaccination, to focus on younger and less educated parents, and pay attention to values important in their decision.