Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb 7:14:133.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-133.

Chinese immigrant parents' vaccination decision making for children: a qualitative analysis

Linda D L Wang, Wendy W T Lam  1 , Joseph T Wu, Qiuyan Liao, Richard Fielding
Affiliations

Chinese immigrant parents' vaccination decision making for children: a qualitative analysis

Linda D L Wang et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: While immunization coverage rates for childhood routine vaccines in Hong Kong are almost 100%, the uptake rates of optional vaccines remain suboptimal. Understanding parental decision-making for children's vaccination is important, particularly among minority groups who are most vulnerable and underserved. This study explored how a subsample of new immigrant mothers from mainland China, a rapidly-growing subpopulation in Hong Kong, made decisions on various childhood and adolescent vaccines for their offspring, and identified key influences affecting their decision making.

Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 Chinese new immigrant mothers recruited by purposive sampling. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach.

Results: Participants' conversation revealed five underlying themes which influenced parents' vaccination decision-making: (1) Institutional factors, (2) Insufficient vaccination knowledge and advice, (3) Affective impacts on motivation, (4) Vaccination barriers, and (5) Social influences. The role of social norms appeared overwhelmingly salient influencing parents' vaccination decision making. Institutional factors shaped parent's perceptions of vaccination necessity. Fear of vaccine-targeted diseases was a key motivating factor for parents adopting vaccination. Insufficient knowledge about vaccines and targeted diseases, lack of advice from health professionals and, if provided, suspicions regarding the motivations for such advice were common issues. Vaccination cost was a major barrier for many new immigrant parents.

Conclusions: Social norms play a key role influencing parental vaccination decision-making. Insight gained from this study will help inform healthcare providers in vaccination communication and policymakers in future vaccination programme.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hierarchical chart of themes and categories.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS): 2006-2015. 2005. [ http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2005/WHO_IVB_05.05.pdf]
    1. Chan D, Chan SK, Wong CK, Chan A, Wong C. Public Health & Epidemiology Bulletin. Volume 3. Hong Kong: Department of Health Hong Kong China; 2010. Immunisation coverage among children aged two to five: findings of the 2009 immunisation survey; pp. 53–63.
    1. The NHS Information Centre, Public Health Indicators and Population Statistics team. NHS Immunisation Statistics England 2009-10. UK: Health and Social Care Information Centre; 2010.
    1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Child Health USA 2012. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2013. Vaccination Coverage.
    1. Vaccines for pandemic (H1N1) 2009. 2009. [ http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/vaccines/en/]

MeSH terms

Substances