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
. 2024 Aug 5:15:1444393.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1444393. eCollection 2024.

The relationship between influenza vaccine hesitancy and vaccine literacy among youth and adults in China

Li Wang #  1   2 , Mengjie Guo #  1 , Yan Wang  1 , Ren Chen  1 , Xiaolin Wei  2   3
Affiliations

The relationship between influenza vaccine hesitancy and vaccine literacy among youth and adults in China

Li Wang et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aimed to assess influenza vaccine hesitancy and vaccine literacy levels among youth and adults in China, as well as the association between them.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Mainland China. Participants' total vaccine literacy and three sub-dimension vaccine literacy (knowledge literacy, competence literacy, and decision-making literacy) were assessed by a validated vaccine literacy scale. Having received influenza vaccination in the past three years or intending to accept it in next influenza season indicates less influenza vaccine hesitancy.

Results: Among 997 participants, a sub-optimal vaccine literacy was observed, with a mean score of 66.83 ± 10.27. Regression models 1-4 revealed that participants with middle (aOR: 1.431, P=0.039, 95% CI: 1.018~2.010) or high (aOR: 1.651, P=0.006, 95% CI: 1.157~2.354) total vaccine literacy, as well as those with high competence literacy (aOR: 1.533, P=0.017, 95% CI: 1.079~2.180), or high decision-making literacy (aOR: 1.822, P=0.001, 95% CI: 1.261~2.632) were more likely to have been vaccinated against influenza at least once in past three years. However, those with a high knowledge literacy were associated with a lower influenza vaccine rate (aOR: 0.676, P=0.046, 95% CI: 0.460~0.994). Regression models 5-8 revealed that participants with middle (aOR: 1.661, P=0.008, 95% CI: 1.142~2.414) or high total vaccine literacy (aOR: 2.645, P=0.000, 95% CI: 1.774~3.942), as well as those with middle (aOR: 1.703, P=0.005, 95% CI: 1.177~2.464) or high competence literacy (aOR: 2.346, P=0.000, 95% CI: 1.159~3.461), or high decision-making literacy (aOR: 2.294, P=0.000, 95% CI: 1.531~3.436) were more likely to express the willingness to receive the influenza vaccine in the next influenza season.

Conclusion: The participants' influenza vaccine hesitancy was negatively associated with their total vaccine literacy levels and two of the three sub-dimensions: competence literacy and decision-making literacy. Knowledge literacy suggested a positive or no relationship with influenza vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords: influenza vaccine; residents; vaccination; vaccine hesitancy; vaccine literacy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Levine OS, Bloom DE, Cherian T, de Quadros C, Sow S, Wecker J, et al. . The future of immunisation policy, implementation, and financing. Lancet. (2011) 378:439–48. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60406-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. MacDonald NE, SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy . Vaccine hesitancy: Definition, scope and determinants. Vaccine. (2015) 33:4161–4. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.04.036 - DOI - PubMed
    1. WHO . Ten threats to global health in 2019 [EB/OL] (2019). Available online at: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-... (Accessed 2024 Mar 8).
    1. Ratzan SC. Vaccine literacy: a new shot for advancing health. J Health Commun. (2011) 16:227–9. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2011.561726 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhang E, Dai Z, Wang S, Wang X, Zhang X, Fang Q. Vaccine literacy and vaccination: A systematic review. Int J Public Health. (2023) 68:1605606. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605606 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances

LinkOut - more resources