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. 2023 Apr;46(1-2):116-128.
doi: 10.1007/s10865-022-00315-4. Epub 2022 Apr 27.

Factors associated with latino sexual minority men's likelihood and motivation for obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine: a mixed-methods study

Elliott R Weinstein  1 , Raymond Balise  2 , Nicholas Metheny  3 , Maria Jose Baeza Robba  3 , Daniel Mayo  4 , Cassandra Michel  5 , Bill Chan  5 , Steven A Safren  5 , Audrey Harkness  3
Affiliations

Factors associated with latino sexual minority men's likelihood and motivation for obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine: a mixed-methods study

Elliott R Weinstein et al. J Behav Med. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Minoritized communities are underreached by biomedical interventions, such as the COVID-19 vaccine. This mixed-methods study identified factors associated with vaccine likelihood (VL) and uptake (VU) among 187 Latino sexual minority men (LSMM) in South Florida. Regression models with LASSO variable selection and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) assessed determinants of VL and VU while open-ended questions were evaluated using thematic content analysis. VL (range 1-7; M = 6.00, SD = 1.84) and VU (63.6%) was high. LASSO modeling identified being insured, worrying about others, fear of transmitting COVID-19, and financial stress as the most influential factors for VL; working remotely from home was important for VU. Time (weeks) since addition of COVID-19 vaccination-related questions (December 2nd, 2020) was associated with both outcomes across both modeling techniques. Convergence between data suggests capitalizing on altruistic motivations and improving accessibility to vaccine campaigns are valuable assets to increase LSMM's vaccine confidence.

Keywords: COVID-19; Latina/o/x; Mixed-methods; Sexual minority men; Vaccine hesitancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Safren receives royalties from Oxford University Press, Guilford Publications, and Springer/Humana press for books on cognitive behavioral therapy. Elliott R. Weinstein, Raymond Balise, Nicholas Metheny, Maria Jose Baeza Robba, Daniel Mayo, Cassandra Michel, Bill Chan and Audrey Harkness have no other conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
LASSO modeling for vaccine likelihood. *Variable reflecting the time (measured in weeks) between addition of first COVID-19 vaccine questions (December 2, 2020) and the date the participant completed the 8MFU
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CART Modeling for Vaccine Likelihood. The numbers located in the leaves of the tree (at the bottom of the page) represent both the predicted score (1–7) on the vaccine likelihood question as well as the proportion of the total analytic sample who fell into each of these distinct subgroups
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
LASSO Modeling for Vaccine Uptake. *Variable reflecting the time (measured in weeks) between addition of first COVID-19 vaccine questions (December 2, 2020) and the date the participant completed the 8MFU
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
CART modeling for vaccine uptake. *The numbers located in the leaves of the tree (at the bottom of the page) represent both the predicted score (1–7) on the vaccine likelihood question as well as the proportion of the total analytic sample who fell into each of these distinct subgroups
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Convergence and Complementarity Between Qualitative and Quantitative Data. Convergent findings between the qualitative and quantitative data can be found in the center of the two circles. Complementary qualitative and quantitative findings can be found in the outer circles
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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