Measuring childhood vaccination acceptance of mother in Zhejiang province, East China.

backgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the vaccine hesitancy among mothers and examine risk factors associated with mother's intention to vaccination in Zhejiang province.

methodsA provincial sample of mothers of children aged 24-35 months was surveyed (N = 770) in August, 2017. Demographic information, perception on the past childhood vaccination, knowledge on vaccination, information searches and needs, trust in different institutions on vaccination were collected. Based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), attitudes toward vaccination, perceived social support, perceived behavioural control as well as mothers' intention to immunize their child were constructed. Descriptive statistics were generated for all variables. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify differences between mothers who had strong intentions to immunize their children in future and those with weaker intentions.

resultsOf the participants, 79.6% had a positive attitudes towards vaccination, 77.5% had a high perceived social support, 63.2% had a high perceived behaviour control and 87.3% strongly intended to have their child vaccinated. Strong intention to vaccination was significantly associated with the positive behavioral attitudes [adjusted odds ratios (AOR) = 3.2, 95% CI: 2.3-5.7], the high perceived social support (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.8-3.6), the perceived ease of undergoing vaccination (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.6-3.3), respectively.

conclusionsIt was recommended that interventions focused on trust-building, promoting social norms, changing the negative attitude would be effective to enhance the maternal acceptance on vaccination.