Awareness of Covid-19 and attitudes toward vaccination in parents of children between 0 and 18 years: A cross-sectional study.
Elif Bilsin Kocamaz, Halil Kocamaz
PMID 35414416WHAT IT FOUND
Turkish parents scored 28.84 of 45 on contagion precautions, but only 37% wanted their children vaccinated.
Main concerns were that the vaccine was new and evidence was limited. Nurses may need to address these doubts when discussing childhood vaccination.
Key findings
01Only 37.0% of parents said they wanted their children vaccinated against Covid-19; 26.8% said no and 36.2% were undecided.
02On the awareness scale, parents scored 28.84 of 45 for contagion precautions, 10.27 of 20 for following developments, and 9.54 of 20 for hygiene precautions.
03Parents' stated reasons for reluctance to receive the vaccine included that it was new and produced quickly (21.4%), insufficient evidence about effects and reliability (10.4%), and fear of side effects (6.3%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was recruited through Facebook and Instagram, so it may represent parents who use social media and agree to online surveys, not all parents in Turkey. The paper states a minimum sample size of 384 but does not give a single final total of analysed parents, so the exact analysed sample is unclear. The study was cross-sectional, so it measured awareness and vaccination intentions at one time and cannot show that awareness caused willingness. Responses were self-reported, and awareness scores did not necessarily match actual protection behaviour. Children were not currently vaccinated during the study period, so the findings concern stated future acceptability rather than real vaccination uptake. The authors note that the study cannot be generalized to the whole population.
Declared interests
This research did not receive a specific grant from public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors, and the authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 37% willingness as proof that education will increase vaccination. The study is cross-sectional and only associates awareness with stated intention, so it does not test an intervention.