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
. 2021 Nov 2;17(11):4470-4486.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2021.1961466. Epub 2021 Sep 2.

Understanding the determinants of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine confidence among adolescents: a systematic review

Chiara Cadeddu  1 , Carolina Castagna  1 , Martina Sapienza  1 , Teresa Eleonora Lanza  1 , Rosaria Messina  1 , Manuela Chiavarini  2 , Walter Ricciardi  1 , Chiara de Waure  2
Affiliations

Understanding the determinants of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine confidence among adolescents: a systematic review

Chiara Cadeddu et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. .

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy (VH) in the age of adolescence is a major public health issue, though it has not been widely examined in the scientific literature. This systematic review aims to address the determinants of VH among adolescents aged 10-19. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched from the inception until 11 December 2020. Articles in English, assessing adolescents' attitudes toward vaccination in terms of hesitancy and/or confidence were considered eligible. Out of 14,704 articles, 20 studies were included in the qualitative analysis. Quality assessment was performed through the Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS). A better knowledge of vaccine-preventable diseases, a higher confidence in vaccines, as well as an active involvement in the decision-making process showed a positive relationship with adolescents' vaccine uptake. These aspects should be considered to plan tailored interventions for the promotion of vaccination among adolescents and to reduce VH. Major limitations of this review are represented by the high heterogeneity of the tools used in the primary studies and the lack of standardization in outcomes definitions. Future research is needed to disentangle the interrelationship among the different determinants of VH in this age group.

Keywords: Adolescents; attitudes; confidence; hesitancy; hpv; immunization; students; teenagers; vaccination; vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart of the selection process. SLR: systematic literature review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dubé E, Vivion M, MacDonald NE.. Vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal and the anti-vaccine movement: influence, impact and implications. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2015. Jan 2;14(1):99–117. doi:10.1586/14760584.2015.964212. - DOI - PubMed
    1. WHO SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy . Report of the SAGE working group on vaccine hesitancy. 2014. www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2014/october/SAGE_working_group_r...
    1. Organization WHO . Global vaccine action plan 2011-2020. apps.who.int. World Health Organization; 2013. [accessed 2021 Mar 21]. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/78141
    1. MacDonald NE. Vaccine hesitancy: definition, scope and determinants. Vaccine. 2015. Aug 14;33(34):4161–64. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.04.036. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Larson HJ, Jarrett C, Eckersberger E, Smith DM, Paterson P. Understanding vaccine hesitancy around vaccines and vaccination from a global perspective: a systematic review of published literature, 2007–2012. Vaccine. 2014. Apr 17;32(19):2150–59. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.01.081. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types