Intention to Hepatitis B Vaccinate: Evidence from Migrant Workers in Tianjin, China

Abstract

Background: Migrant workers are a susceptible population to the hepatitis B virus and a vulnerablespot in China’s immunization procedures. There is no free HB immunization program for migrant workers in China, so understanding migrant workers’ motivation to receive the hepatitis B vaccine is the first step in designing effect immunization policies.Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out in three migrant-dense industries in Tianjin, China. Our sample consisted of 406 migrant workers, 133 from the retail industry, 119 from the manufacturing industry, and 154 from the service industry. Protection motivation theory (PMT) factors were produced by principal component factor analysis. Socio-demographic variables, migration-industry variablesand PMT factors were estimated in a step-by-step binary logistic regression model to explore migrant workers intention to vaccinate.Results: The nested binary logistic regression model results suggested that the severity factor, self-efficacy factor and response cost factor from the PMT constructs were the three statistically significant factors (p<0.05) that affect the migrant workers vaccination intention. The severity factor and self-efficacy factor to HB vaccination were positively related to HB vaccination intention (OR=1.500, OR=1.631) while the response cost was negatively related to motivation to take HB vaccine (OR=0.626). The socio-demographic variables showed that younger, married and good self-rated health status participants were statistically associated with the intention of taking the HB vaccine. Sex, education level and income group were not significantly associated with vaccination intentions. The migration-industry variables show that migrant location had astrong effect on migrant workers’ vaccination intention.Conclusions: Applying integrated PMT constructs to the vaccination intention of Tianjin’s migrant population provide new insights into migrant workers’ intention to the HB vaccinate. Our findings suggest specific recommendations on health education and immunization management policies for migrant workers.