Preventable Disease Practices Among a Lower SES, Multicultural, Nonurban, U.S. Community: The Roles of Vaccination Efficacy and Personal Constraints

Abstract

In spite of knowledge that early vaccination against contagious diseases such as swine flu reduces morbidity and contains contagion, rates of vaccination in the most recent three annual disease cycles were lower than anticipated. Some previous research suggests that lower socioeconomic status, mixed-racial population composition, and a nonurban environment may all contribute to lower vaccination rates. This study adopts the health belief model to create two composite indexes-vaccine efficacy and personal constraints-to analyze the role of each in predicting vaccination behavior/intention and to explore the role of each on behavior/intention in terms of information sources. Findings indicate that vaccine efficacy significantly predicts vaccination behavior and intention to receive the vaccine and that personal constraints do not significantly predict either. Social media and a notification from a school or employer were the most important information sources for persons who had received the vaccine, while signage in a pharmacy or grocery store and information from a school or employer were the most important motivators for behavioral intentions. Vaccination efficacy was perceived most highly by persons for whom physicians are their most important information source. Finally, satisfaction with public health care services did not predict the location where individuals would seek the flu vaccine-convenience seemed more important, as grocery and drug stores were the most cited locations.

Preditores de aceitação da vacina contra influenza: tradução para o português e validação de um questionário

“…Mo & Lau 7 found that government recommendations were positive for vaccination, in the form of recommendations in the mass media and advertisements. Meanwhile, Avery & Lriscy 26 found that stimulus for vaccination was associated with communication via social networks. Corace et al 27 found higher vaccination rates among individuals whose family members and friends thought that vaccination was important, demonstrating that other people can positively influence vaccination behavior.…”

Geographic and demographic correlates of autism-related anti-vaccine beliefs on Twitter, 2009-15

“…Social media sites like Twitter show promise for public health efforts (Avery & Lariscy, 2014; Broniatowski et al, 2013). “Social listening” (Cole-Lewis et al, 2015) allows for an examination of vaccination-related beliefs and can serve as an early indicator of shifts in public opinion that might not be captured in traditional surveys due to high costs (Dredze et al, 2016), and sampling (Call et al, 2011; Duggan et al, 2015) and social desirability biases (Krumpal, 2013).…”

“…Twitter is a platform for health-related information (Scanfield et al, 2010) and exposure to vaccine-related information on social media has been associated with vaccine-related behavior (Avery & Lariscy, 2014). Further, geo-tagged Twitter data allow researchers to identify geographical regions where anti-vaccination beliefs are predominant.…”

Characteristics of users of a tailored, interactive website for parents and its impact on adolescent vaccination attitudes and uptake

“…This pilot study was performed in a single geographic area, with minimal heterogeneity of the study population which limits the generalizability of the results. Also, there are known to be culturally-specific vaccination attitudes and beliefs [ 43 – 46 ] which would not likely be addressed by TeenVaxScene as it was designed for the general public. Finally, our website was available only in English and only on an iPad, and was therefore not likely useful for non-English speakers and those who were not familiar with how to use an iPad.…”