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
. 2023 Jun;31(2):103-109.
doi: 10.21101/cejph.a7508.

Vaccine-hesitant families are more susceptible to verbal communication messaging

Vitalija Svist  1 , Agne Maciuleviciene  1 , Simona Naudziunaite  1 , Sigita Petraitiene  2 , Stefano Del Torso  3 , Zachi Grossman  4   5 , Ginreta Magelinskiene  6 , Arunas Valiulis  2   6
Affiliations
Free article

Vaccine-hesitant families are more susceptible to verbal communication messaging

Vitalija Svist et al. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2023 Jun.
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: Our survey aims to highlight parents' and healthcare workers' opinions and hesitations regarding children's vaccination, identify the main factors influencing these opinions, and assess the impact of hesitations on immunisation for children, included in the National Immunisation Programme in Lithuania.

Methods: We used the questionnaire developed by the European Academy of Paediatrics Research in Ambulatory Settings Network (EAPRASnet). This questionnaire is designed to assess attitudes toward vaccination. The study involved parents raising children aged 1-4 years and primary healthcare providers (paediatricians, family doctors and nurses).

Results: We analysed the completed questionnaires from a total of 329 parents (142 fathers, 187 mothers) and 386 medical personnel (150 physicians, 236 nurses). Most parents expressed positive opinions about vaccines (> 8 points out of 10 possible), with older parents exhibiting more favourable attitudes. Compared to mothers, fathers showed more criticism regarding the information provided by physicians (p = 0.04). Family doctors and paediatricians were more supportive of vaccination than nurses and homoeopaths (p < 0.001). Parents and healthcare providers with higher education showed statistically significantly stronger opinions about the benefits of vaccines than those with lower education levels (p = 0.01 for parents, p < 0.001 for physicians and nurses). The Internet was identified as the primary source of negative information for both parents (69.6%) and healthcare providers (86%). However, verbal information received from medical staff during patient consultations or informal conversations among colleagues had the greatest impact on parents' opinions (17.3%) and medical personnel (35.5%).

Conclusions: Confidential conversations with physicians and nurses remain the most trustworthy sources of information and influential factors shaping opinions. The Internet serves as the primary source of inaccurate information about vaccinations for both parents and medical professionals, although verbal information from primary healthcare providers has a more significant impact on vaccination attitudes. Discrepancies in basic education and specific knowledge about vaccination within the same family can pose additional obstacles to child vaccination.

Keywords: EAPRASnet; Lithuania; children; parents; primary health care; vaccination rate; vaccines.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bechini A, Boccalini S, Ninci A, Zanobini P, Sartor G, Bonaccorsi G, et al. Childhood vaccination coverage in Europe: impact of different public health policies. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2019 Jul 3;18(7):693-701.
    1. Daley MF, Narwaney KJ, Shoup JA, Wagner NM, Glanz JM. Addressing parents' vaccine concerns: a randomised trial of a social media intervention. Am J Prev Med. 2018 Jul 1;55(1):44-54.
    1. Facciolà A, Visalli G, Orlando A, Bertuccio MP, Spataro P, Squeri R, et al. Vaccine hesitancy: an overview on parents' opinions about vaccination and possible reasons of vaccine refusal. J Public Health Res. 2019 Mar 11;8(1):1436. doi: 10.4081/jphr.2019.1436 - DOI
    1. National Public Health Centre under the Ministry of Health. [Vaccines] [Internet]. Vilnius: NPHC [cited 2023 Feb 27]. Available from: http://nvsc.lrv.lt/lt/uzkreciamuju-ligu-valdymas/skiepai/skiepijimo-apim....
    1. Kaufman J, Ryan R, Walsh L, Horey D, Leask J, Robinson P, et al. Face-to-face interventions for informing or educating parents about early childhood vaccination. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 May 8;2018(5):CD010038. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010038.pub3 - DOI