Examining the effect of anti-vaccine news in the media on parents' attitudes toward childhood vaccinations

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine parental attitudes about childhood vaccines based on anti-vaccine news in the media. Materials and Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study. The study sample consisted of parents of children aged 5 years or younger who were treated as inpatients or outpatients in Manisa Celal Bayar University Hafsa Sultan Hospital Pediatric Health and Diseases Units (Service 1, Service 2 and Outpatient Clinics), Pediatric Emergency Department, Pediatric Surgery Department. The data of the study were collected with Descriptive Information Form, Scale of Parents' Attitudes Towards Childhood Vaccines and Questionnaire for Determining Parents' Attitudes Towards Vaccines. Descriptive statistics, Kolmogrof Siminnnov, Mann Whitneyy U Test, Kuruskal Wallis Test and Chi-Square Test were used to analyze the data. Results: The parents of the interviewed, 65.7% were mothers and the mean age was 32.89 years. The mean age of their children was found to be 2.44±1.53. It was determined that 97.1% were married, 50% were university graduates, and 64.2% had income equal to their expenses. When parents' opinions about vaccination attitudes are examined; It was determined that although 61.1% of them got information about vaccines from a health institution, 22.3% of them got it from the media. When the parents' willingness to receive the same vaccines if childhood vaccinations were not mandatory was examined, it was found that 14.2% responded "I am not sure" and 10.3% responded "I would not want to". When the extent to which anti-vaccine news and information on social media or radio and television affected their vaccination, it was determined that 44.1% of the parents were 3 points above it. When parents' attitudes about childhood vaccines were evaluated, it was found that 23% had vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: At the end of the research, it was determined that the anti-vaccination parent was influenced by the media.