Vaccine hesitancy and related factors regarding childhood vaccinations among the parents of students attending kindergartens in central districts of Denizli province

Vaccine hesitancy, defined as a delay in accepting or rejecting vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services, is increasing worldwide. A better understanding of how to communicate and address concerns with vaccine hesitant parents is vital to translate the scientific benefits of vaccines into practice. It is important to determine the reasons for the parents' vaccine hesitancy, to understand the increasing vaccine resistance and to take precautions accordingly. In this study, it was aimed to investigate vaccine hesitancy and related factors in parents of students attending in kindergartens. The population of the cross-sectional study consists of the parents of the students studying in kindergartens affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Pamukkale and Merkezefendi, which are the central districts of Denizli. A 44-item questionnaire form was administered as a data collection tool, which inquired about the socio-demographic characteristics of the family and factors related to vaccine hesitancy.Vaccine hesitancy was measured using the 9-item Vaccine Hesitancy Scale. Ethics committee permission and necessary institutional permissions were obtained before the study. SPSS 17.0 program was used for data analysis. While Mann Whitney U or Kruskall Wallis Tests were used for the comparison of measurement variables, linear regression analysis was used to identify independent factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. 638 individuals participated in this research by answering the questionnaire.74.3% of the participants are mothers. 12.9% of the parents participating in the study hesitated or delayed on at least one vaccine. According to the regression analysis, vaccine hesitancy was found to be higher in those who observed side effects in their children after vaccination, 1-those who knew someone who had a post-vaccine side effect, 2-those who did not use physicians as a source of vaccination, 3-those who thought that there would be no harm to their children without getting vaccinated, 4-those who found information about vaccination and its safety insufficient, and 5- mothers and fathers who had negative information about vaccinations. As a result, approximately 1 in 10 parents in this study was hesitant or delayed at least one vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy should be evaluated intermittently in different samples and age groups.