Attitudes of parents of children with congenital heart disease towards childhood vaccination: A case control study

Attitudes Of Parents Of Children With Congenital Heart Disease Towards Childhood Vaccination: A Case Control Study Introduction and Purpose: The presence of chronic illnesses in children is a significant factor influencing vaccination status. This study aims to assess the attitudes of parents of children diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD), who presented to the Pediatric Cardiology Outpatient Clinic at Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, toward childhood vaccinations, and to compare their children's vaccination status with that of healthy children. Materials and Methods: The study was designed as a case-control study. Parents of children diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD), who visited the Pediatric Cardiology Outpatient Clinic at Dicle University Faculty of Medicine Hospital between June 1, 2022, and June 1, 2023, were included as the case group. For the control group, parents of children without a CHD diagnosis were selected. Data were collected using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) scale and a questionnaire that assessed the children's vaccination status and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: A total of 731 parents were included in the study, comprising 274 in the case group and 457 in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference between the case and control groups in terms of the administration rates of vaccines included in the Ministry of Health's childhood immunization schedule (p > 0.05 for all variables). However, the administration rates of the rotavirus and meningococcal vaccines were significantly higher in the control group (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). When comparing vaccine hesitancy between the two groups, it was found to be significantly higher in the control group (p = 0.006). The total raw score, converted score, and overall attitude score on the PACV scale were also significantly higher in the control group (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.019, respectively). Among the case group, parents of children with cyanotic heart disease exhibited significantly higher levels of vaccine hesitancy (p = 0.038). Conclusion: In this study, parents of children diagnosed with CHD were found to have lower rates of vaccine hesitancy compared to parents of healthy children. However, the presence of cyanotic heart disease emerged as a significant medical factor associated with increased vaccine hesitancy. Sociodemographic characteristics, level of knowledge about vaccines, trust in physicians, and economic factors were found to influence vaccine hesitancy rates in both groups. Keywords: Vaccine attitude, congenital heart disease, childhood.