Parents’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards children’s vaccination in Lebanon: role of the parent-physician communication

Abstract

Background One of the most effective public health interventions in the world is immunization. However, some parents doubt its usefulness and safety. Many factors influence their decision to vaccinate, including their sociodemographic characteristics, their trust in the public health system, the parent-physician relationship, their level of knowledge and their attitudes towards vaccination. Our objective was to determine the factors, especially the parent-physician communication, associated with parental knowledge, attitudes and practices of their children’s vaccination. Methods Three thousand five hundred parents (father, mother or both) of children aged between 1 month and 15 years were approached by a trained personnel who performed the data collection through personal interviews (February–April 2019). Results The response rate was 79.5%. The results of the multivariable analysis showed that a better patient-physician communication was significantly associated with higher knowledge, better attitude and practice. Better knowledge was significantly associated with better attitude, whereas better knowledge and attitude were significantly associated with better practice. Conclusion Our study shows the importance of good physician-patient communication in improving knowledge, attitude and practice of parents towards their children’s vaccination.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Parents About Immunization of Infants and Its Associated Factors in Wadla Woreda, North East Ethiopia, 2019

“…Our study showed that respondents who had good knowledge about infant immunization were four folds (AOR= 4.592, 95% CI: (2.709–7.786) more likely to had a favorable attitude towards infant immunization than their counterparts. This is in line with studies conducted in Saudi Arabia, 25 , 26 Bangalore, India, 46 Lebanon, 49 Lithuania, 34 and Italy. 55 This might be due to good knowledge was the most crucial and tangible factor that helps to attain a favorable attitude towards infant immunization and mothers who had better knowledge and understanding about EPI were more likely to adhere and less likely to refuse their infant’s immunization.…”

“…Our study showed that Literate parents who attend higher education were about five times (AOR=5.330, 95% CI: (1.919-14.803)) more likely to be knowledgeable than illiterate respondents. This finding is comparable with the study findings from Addis Ababa, 40 Minia City, Egypt, 36 Nigeria, 39,44 Saudi Arabia, 17,18,25 Nepal, 32 India, 28,47,48 Lebanon 49 and Lithuania. 34 This was due to higher educational levels, of no doubt, have a good understanding of children's health and understand the educational messages and vaccination policy much more easily.…”

“…Our study indicated that literate parents who attend primary school, secondary school, and higher education were about two times (AOR=2.513, 95% CI: (1.526–4.136), two times (AOR=2.546, 95% CI: (1.159–5.9590) and twelve times (AOR=11.988, 95% CI: (4.470–32.147), respectively, more likely to practice infant immunization than illiterate respondents. A similar result between the mother’s educational level and vaccination status was observed in other studies as well in Arba Minch town and Zuria District, 10 Mizan Aman Town (Ethiopia), 56 Sinan District, 57 Tehulederie district, 58 Taif (Saudi Arabia), 18 Kama District (Afghanistan), 33 Nepal, 32 Bengaluru (India), 48 urban slums of Varanasi (India), 59 Lebanon, 49 and Georgia. 35 This might be related to the improvement of maternal educational status which enhances parental health-seeking behavior and it had a positive influence on infant immunization uptake.…”

Caregivers’ Willingness to Vaccinate Their Children Against Childhood Diseases and Human Papillomavirus: a Cross-sectional Study on Vaccine Hesitancy in Malawi

“…The role of education was notable because education mostly correlates with positive attitudes and behavior toward vaccination [76][77][78]. The opposite, as in the case of this study, is not frequently found.…”

2. Attitudes of Mothers of Preschool Children towards Vaccination

“…To be successful, vaccination programs rely on a high uptake level. It is estimated that less than 5-10% of individuals have strong anti-vaccination attitudes (18). However, a more significant proportion could be categorized as being hesitant regarding vaccination.…”