Attitude of parents towards seasonal influenza vaccination for children in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to assess attitudes, beliefs, and behavior towards seasonal influenza vaccination for children among parents in Saudi Arabia and to correlate parental demographic characteristics with hesitancy. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the Family Medicine clinics linked to a tertiary referral hospital in Riyadh. Inclusion criteria were: being a parent, having a child aged six months to 14 years whom is following at that hospital, and living in Saudi Arabia. The Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) survey was used for data collection. Demographic questions were added. Results: The number of participants was 388. Out of these, 298 (76.8%) parents were not hesitant for their child to get vaccinated. Whereas 90 (23.2%) parents were hesitant. Parental gender and age were the only demographic factors found to have a statistically significant impact on their hesitant behavior. For the influenza season of 2018–2019, 148 (38.14%) children received the influenza vaccine. The most common reason for not receiving it was the belief that the vaccine is not necessary. While 25 (27.78%) of the 90 parents who were hesitant allowed their child to get vaccinated, 123 (41.28%) of the 298 parents who were not hesitant allowed their child to get vaccinated, creating a statistically significant difference ( p = 0.0255). Conclusion: Despite the overall positive attitude and low hesitancy, the vaccine uptake was low. Improving access, education about the importance of the vaccine, advocacy from doctors, and correction of misconceptions about it will facilitate an increase in the uptake.

Determinants of parental seasonal influenza vaccine hesitancy in the Eastern Mediterranean region: A cross-sectional study

“…Role of education in VH is complex and may interplay with other factors influencing vaccination adherence. Furthermore, older age mothers were found to report a statistically significant impact on their VH behavior which was similar to the findings of Hamada et al ( 41 )…”

Parental intention to vaccinate children against seasonal influenza in the Eastern Mediterranean region: A cross-sectional study using the health belief model

“…Similarly, previous studies showed that refusal of the influenza vaccine was more evident among older parents. 17 , 41 Greyson and Bettinger 42 suggested that mothers’ vaccination attitudes may change over time. Mothers could be influenced by negative experiences with vaccination or healthcare, challenging medical conditions, and vaccine-hesitant peers.…”

“…Parents’ knowledge, and attitude, and hesitancy regarding vaccinating their children against influenza have previously been examined in the EMR. 17–19 However, to the best of our knowledge, studies using the HBM to explore the impact of parental beliefs on childhood influenza vaccination rates are limited in the region. Furthermore, the possibility of a global influenza pandemic, one of WHO’s top threats to global health, adds further importance to investigate barriers to influenza vaccination.…”

Hesitance and Misconceptions about the Annual Influenza Vaccine among the Saudi Population Post-COVID-19

“…This hesitancy is augmented by prevailing misconceptions, thus posing a potential health risk to susceptible populations such as pregnant women, the immunocompromised, and the elderly [1]. A myriad of studies from Saudi Arabia and its neighboring Gulf States have identified these barriers and their underlying causes [3][4][5][6][7][8].…”