The Development and Preliminary Application of the Chinese Version of the COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy Scale

Abstract

(1) Background: Vaccine literacy (VL) of the public is crucial to deal with anti-vaccination rhetoric. This study aims to (1) develop a Chinese COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy Scale and examine the factor structure and psychometric characteristics, and (2) explore the association between COVID-19 VL and sociodemographic characteristics and other variables; (2) Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 362 Chinese residents from 23 May 2022 to 31 May 2022 using snowball sampling; (3) Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the scale of 15 items, consisting of three factors, functional, interactive and critical vaccine literacy, explained 63.3% of the total variance. Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.885 for the overall scale: 0.838, 0.891, and 0.857 for three subscales, respectively. The results showed a medium level of vaccine literacy (M = 3.71, SD = 0.72) and significant differences among functional, interactive, and critical vaccine literacy (p < 0.001). The level of vaccine literacy grew with the level of education (p < 0.001) and age (p = 0.049). Men, participants who were single, or those living in rural areas had a lower level of vaccine literacy; (4) Conclusions: The Chinese COVID-19 VL Scale has adequate validity and reliability for assessing vaccine literacy among Chinese residents. A deep understanding of the factors that affect vaccine literacy is needed.

COVID-19 vaccine literacy: A scoping review

“…Intention to get vaccinated associated with higher VL (p < .01); two-factor loading confirmed t-test; PCA Khiari 48 2021 Tunisia , Cancer patients 200 54.4 ± 12.7 Cross-sectional study February 2021 COVID-19 VLS Functional : 3.2 ± 1.0 inter-critical : 1.7 ± 0.9 Occupation, chronic diseases, COVID-19 history Willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine (named acceptance) - Acceptance to get vaccine associated with VL score (p = .02) and Interactive VL score (p = .001) multivariate logistic regression Kittipimpanon 49 2022 Thailand, ≥60 ys 408 F 72.5% , 83.3% of participants 60–69 years Online cross-sectional survey between May and July 2021 COVID-19 VLS Functional 2.88 ± 0.68; Interactive-critical 3.34 ± 0.49 Income , underlying diseases Attitudes and Intention to get COVID-19 vaccine - Higher VL in females and persons aged 60–69 (p < .001) Pearson correlation, Independent t-tests Krishnamurthy 50 2021 Barbados, Survey of healthcare professionals 343, 76% F, 144 Aged 18–34; 199 Aged 35+ Online Survey, February 2021 Six items from the HLVa Scale Interactive critical score: 3.46 (non-hesitant HCWs) Six questions administered Marital status, occupation, seasonal flu vaccine, nationality, chronic illness, perceived knowledge of COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccine intention Recommending vaccination for relatives and patients Vaccine hesitancy: 44.9% , chi-square. multivariable logistic regression; Spearman’s correlation Li 51 2022 China, resident population …”

“…In other studies, only a few questions derived and/or adapted from the HLVa scale were administered to the participants. 50 , 54 In addition, this scale was translated into Chinese 51 also adding two supplementary interactive items to the 14 original questions of the tool, and using a five-point instead of a four-point Likert scale for frequency. Thus, despite the relevance of these publications to the scientific community, only two articles using HLVa 43 , 58 reported scores “comparable” to other studies.…”

“…Another study 51 assessed the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of COVID-19-VLS, in 362 residents. Factor analyses indicated that the scale consisted of three dimensions.…”

“…Thai females had a higher mean score for COVID-19 VL than males, which was consistent with what has been reported in Spanish patients, among whom women had higher interactive critical VL than males. 43 Also in a study carried out in China, 51 women showed higher VL, than men. These findings are supported by previous research, which had shown that women tend to have a higher HL, for reasons that are unclear.…”

“…Consistent with these observations, also another study using HLVa found a paired difference in favor of the functional subscale. 51 Therefore, these populations seem to have sufficient skills in reading and comprehending COVID-19 vaccine information, but their ability to be actively involved in making their own decisions about COVID-19 vaccination appears to be potentially reduced. These studies were conducted at different points in the pandemic, mostly during 2021, when the incidence of COVID-19 cases progressively increased in all geographic areas, and vaccination campaigns were implemented with substantial differences across Countries in terms of coverage rates.…”