COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among Americans with disabilities aged 18-65: An exploratory analysis.
Andrew Myers, Catherine Ipsen, Ari Lissau
PMID 34663563WHAT IT FOUND
Concern about vaccine side effects was the strongest predictor of hesitancy.
Trust in health experts and higher education were linked to lower hesitancy. Health literacy, gender, rural residence, and having a high-risk health condition did not predict hesitancy once other factors were accounted for.
Key findings
01Concern about vaccines was the most significant predictor of hesitancy, with an odds ratio of 2.805.
02Trust in expert sources of information was associated with lower odds of hesitancy, with an odds ratio of 0.780.
03Having a bachelor's degree was associated with lower odds of hesitancy, with an odds ratio of 0.469.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, which tends to be younger, more educated, and more liberal than the general population, and may over-represent people with psychological disabilities. The study is cross-sectional, so it can only show associations, not cause and effect. Health literacy was measured only as reading ability, which may not capture other important dimensions like numeracy or conceptual knowledge. The survey did not ask about familiarity with mRNA technology, which the authors suggest could be a source of concern.
Declared interests
This research was supported by grant #90RTCP0002 from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research within the Administration on Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that having a high-risk health condition or low health literacy drives vaccine hesitancy in this population. These factors were not significant predictors once concerns about vaccines and trust in experts were accounted for.