Parents' attitudes toward childhood COVID-19 immunization in Croatia: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Znanstveni rad - Izvorni znanstveni rad

• Autor: Mirta Šašić
• Autor: Kristian Bodulić
• Autor: Iva Hojsak
• Autor: Mario Mašić
• Autor: Ivana Trivić
• Autor: Joško Markić
• Autor: Marijan Batinić
• Autor: Ines Bartulović
• Autor: Anja Šurina
• Autor: Nina Krajcar
• Autor: Goran Tešović
• Autorova ustanova: Sveučilište u Zagrebu; Medicinski fakultet; (KATEDRA ZA INFEKTOLOGIJU)
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: BIOMEDICINA I ZDRAVSTVO; Kliničke medicinske znanosti; Infektologija

Sažetak (engleski)

Aim: To assess parents' attitudes toward childhood COVID-19 immunization in Croatia.

Methods: In this multicenter cross-sectional study, we collected data from four tertiary care facilities in Zagreb, Split, and Osijek between December 2021 and February 2022. During the visit to the Pediatric Emergency Departments, parents were asked to fill out a highly-structured questionnaire about their attitudes toward COVID-19 immunization in children.

Results: The sample consisted of 872 respondents. A total of 46.3% of respondents were hesitant about vaccinating their child against COVID-19, 35.2% definitely did not intend to vaccinate their child, and 18.5% definitely intended to vaccinate their child. Parents who were themselves vaccinated against COVID-19 were more likely than unvaccinated parents (29.2% and 3.2%, P<0.001) to vaccinate their children. Parents agreeing with the epidemiological guidelines were more inclined to vaccinate their children, as were parents of older children and parents of children vaccinated according to the national program schedule. Child comorbidities and respondents' history of COVID-19 were not associated with childhood vaccination intention. Ordinal logistic regression revealed that the most important predictors for a positive parents' attitude toward vaccinating their child were parents' vaccination status and regular vaccination of their child according to the national immunization program schedule.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate Croatian parents' mostly hesitant and negative attitudes toward childhood COVID-19 immunization. Future vaccination campaigns should target unvaccinated parents, parents with younger children, and parents of children with chronic diseases.

• Ključne riječi (engleski): Adolescent; COVID-19 / epidemiology; COVID-19 / prevention & control; Child; Croatia / epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Immunization; Parents
• Jezik: engleski
• Vrsta publikacije: Znanstveni rad - Izvorni znanstveni rad
• Status objave: Objavljen
• Vrsta recenzije: Recenziran
• Verzija publikacije: Objavljena verzija rada (izdavačev PDF)
• Naslov časopisa: Croatian Medical Journal
• Brojčani podaci: vol. 64, br. 1, str. 52-60
• p-ISSN: 0353-9504
• e-ISSN: 1332-8166
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2023.64.52
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:857990
• Datum objave publikacije: 2023-02-28
• URL dokumenta: http://www.cmj.hr/2023/64/1/36864819.htm
• Vrsta resursa: Tekst
• Prava pristupa: Otvoreni pristup
• Datum i vrijeme pohrane: 2023-03-21 12:33:48