DA Yilmaz, KT Selçuk, NC Sahiner, DB Alırkılıcarslan

Abstract

Purpose: This study was aimed at determining parents' attitudes towards childhood vaccines and related factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 462 parents who had children aged 0-59 months and presented to the paediatric outpatient clinic of a hospital located in the central Anatolian region of Turkey between October 2020 and March 2021. The study data were collected using a questionnaire including the Personal Information Form and the Parents Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines scale. Findings: Of the parents participating in the study, 81.6% stated that they considered it necessary to vaccinate their children, 83.1% had their children get all the vaccines recommended by the Ministry of Health, 76.9% stated that they missed some of the recommended vaccinations due to the side effects of vaccines, and 25.7% were hesitant to have their children vaccinated. Conclusions: While determining parents' attitudes towards and beliefs about vaccination, and factors affecting their attitudes and beliefs is of critical importance for the success of vaccination programs, parents' lacking knowledge about vaccines and having vaccine hesitancy may adversely affect vaccination rates in the community. Therefore, we recommend that parents should be supported through trainings on the importance of vaccination, and that parents and the society should be informed about vaccination through public service announcements using mass media.