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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Apr:157:106994.
doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.106994. Epub 2022 Feb 18.

Willingness, refusal and influential factors of parents to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Petros Galanis  1 , Irene Vraka  2 , Olga Siskou  3 , Olympia Konstantakopoulou  3 , Aglaia Katsiroumpa  4 , Daphne Kaitelidou  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Willingness, refusal and influential factors of parents to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Petros Galanis et al. Prev Med. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

We aimed to estimate parents' willingness and refusal to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19, and to investigate the predictors for their decision. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. We searched Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, PubMed, CINAHL and medrxiv from inception to December 12, 2021. We applied a random effect model to estimate pooled effects since the heterogeneity was very high. We used subgroup analysis and metaregression analysis to explore sources of heterogeneity. We found 44 studies including 317,055 parents. The overall proportion of parents that intend to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19 was 60.1%, while the proportion of parents that refuse to vaccinate their children was 22.9% and the proportion of unsure parents was 25.8%. The main predictors of parents' intention to vaccinate their children were fathers, older age of parents, higher income, higher levels of perceived threat from the COVID-19, and positive attitudes towards vaccination (e.g. children's complete vaccination history, history of children's and parents' vaccination against influenza, confidence in vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines, and COVID-19 vaccine uptake among parents). Parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19 is moderate and several factors affect this decision. Understanding parental COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy does help policy makers to change the stereotypes and establish broad community COVID-19 vaccination. Identification of the factors that affect parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 will provide opportunities to enhance parents' trust in the COVID-19 vaccines and optimize children's uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Keywords: COVID-19; Children; Parents; Predictors; Refusal; Vaccination; Willingness.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the literature search according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of parents' refusal to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of parents reporting unsure of their children's vaccination against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S1
Supplementary Fig. S1
Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis for parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S2
Supplementary Fig. S2
Funnel plot for parents' willingness to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S3
Supplementary Fig. S3
Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis for parents' refusal to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S4
Supplementary Fig. S4
Funnel plot for parents' refusal to vaccinate their children against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S5
Supplementary Fig. S5
Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis for parents reporting unsure of their children's vaccination against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S6
Supplementary Fig. S6
Funnel plot for parents reporting unsure of their children's vaccination against the COVID-19.
Supplementary Fig. S7
Supplementary Fig. S7
Meta-regression analysis between parents' willingness to vaccinate their children and data collection time.
Supplementary Fig. S8
Supplementary Fig. S8
Meta-regression analysis between parents' refusal to vaccinate their children and data collection time.
Supplementary Fig. S9
Supplementary Fig. S9
Meta-regression analysis between parents reporting unsure of their children's vaccination and data collection time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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