The relation between digital literacy, cyberchondria, and parents' attitudes to childhood vaccines

The mediating effect of E-health literacy on health belief model-based vaccine attitudes among parents in Türkiye: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Vaccination constitutes one of the most efficacious public health interventions, preventing millions of fatalities annually. Nevertheless, vaccine hesitancy persists as a significant challenge, particularly among parents. The dissemination of misinformation via the internet, notably through social media platforms, has contributed to the escalation of vaccine hesitancy. E-health literacy, defined as the capacity to locate and utilize online health information, possesses the potential to influence vaccine attitudes. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among education level, e-health literacy and childhood vaccination attitude among parents.

METHODS

The cross-sectional study design was used. This study was guided by STROBE. Convenience sampling recruited 699 parents in Türkiye with an online survey. The data tools used in the study were the parental information form, Public Attitudes Towards Vaccination - Health Belief Model Scale (PAV-HBM) and E-health Literacy Scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0, and the PROCESS macro in SPSS was employed to estimate path coefficients and assess the adequacy of the model. The mediating effects of e-health literacy on the pathway in which education level of the parents affects childhood vaccination were verified using model 4 of the SPSS PROCESS macro proposed by Hayes.

RESULTS

The E-Health literacy had significantly mediate the relationship between educational level and the PAVS-HBM sub-dimensions of perceived susceptibility (B = 0.044, 95% CI= [0.023-0.071]), severity (B = 0.045, 95% CI= [0.023-0.070]), benefits (B = 0.054, 95% CI= [0.029-0.086]), and health motivation (B = 0.045, 95% CI= [0.023-0.071]). However, e-health literacy did not mediate the relationship between education level and perceived barriers (B = - 0.013, 95% CI= [- 0.049- -0.023]).

CONCLUSION

The results revealed that education level among parents affect all vaccine attitudes without perceived barriers and the level of e-health literacy mediates this relationship. Therefore, health communication strategies, such as the development of e-health literacy by health authorities and the provision of reliable information about vaccination on digital platforms, including social media, may have potential benefits in promoting positive vaccination attitudes in the community.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER

Not applicable.

Examining mothers' obsessive and compulsive behaviors regarding baby care, cyberchondria level and maternal burnout in the postpartum period: Path analysis

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of postpartum women's obsessive and compulsive behaviors towards the care of their babies and maternal exhaustion levels on cyberchondria.

METHODS

The study, designed as a cross-sectional and correlation-seeking study, included 275 mothers. Data were collected from Turkish mothers with maternal burnout scale (MBS), scale for obsessive and compulsive behavıors of mothers ın the postpartum perıod wıth regard to baby care and cyberchondria severity scale (CSS).

RESULTS

A total of 41.8% of the mothers, whose average age was 28.49 ± 5.04, had their first birth, 62.5% of the mothers were feeding their babies with breast milk, and 65.8% had regular sleep. The total mean score of the scales was 24.76 ± 5.15 for T-MBS, 81.19 ± 22.16 for CSS, and 16.11 ± 10.28 for the obsession scale. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the maternal burnout and postpartum obsession scales and the cyberchondria severity scale.

CONCLUSION

In the present study, mothers in the postpartum period did not show signs of burnout or obsessive-compulsive behaviors in the care of their babies, and their cyberchondria severity scores were at a moderate level.

Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: Validating the PACV Survey for Croatian Parents

Background/Objectives: Vaccine hesitancy, recognized by the WHO as a significant global health threat, undermines vaccination efforts. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) Survey for Croatian parents to understand vaccine hesitancy better. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 1814 Croatian parents was conducted using the PACV survey, translated using a double-back translation method. The psychometrics of the questionnaire were examined, including content validity, dimensionality, construct validity, discriminant validity, and reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) assessed the original model's validity, but the original model fit poorly, prompting exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify latent factors. Reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. Results: EFA identified a five-factor model with factors labeled "Safety", "Schedule", "Attitudes", "Behavior", and "Trust". Subsequent CFA confirmed this model with acceptable to good fit indices. Discriminant validity was also confirmed. Reliability analyses indicated high internal consistency, with total Cronbach's alpha at 0.926 and McDonald's omega at 0.931. Conclusions: The adapted PACV is a valid and reliable tool for identifying vaccine hesitancy among Croatian parents. This study revealed high vaccine hesitancy among Croatian parents, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.

The Relationship between Parents' Use of the Pediatric Emergency Department and Cyberchondria

The study aimed to investigate the correlation between children's attendance at the emergency department and the cyberchondria of parents. The population for this cross-sectional study comprised parents of children aged 0 to 18 attending the emergency department. Research data were collected using an Information Form, the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS). The participants had mean CSS scores of 41.45 ± 19.22. There were significant differences observed between the reason for choosing the emergency department with mean scores for the total CSS (F = 2.289, P = .021), distress (F = 2.466, P = .013), and compulsion (F = 2.822, P = .005) subscales. A weak positive correlation was identified between the number of attendances at the emergency department in the last year and the excessiveness (r = .204) subscale. Participants had moderate levels of CSS. According to the research findings, most parents attended the emergency department for non-urgent reasons. In addition, as the cyberchondria severity level of parents increased, their attendance at health institutions and emergency departments was determined to increase.

Vaccination Hesitancy and Its Impact on Immunization Coverage in Pediatrics: A Systematic Review

One significant global health issue that is present in more than 190 nations globally is routine vaccination reluctance. This study aimed to synthesize the current evidence on vaccination hesitancy and its impact on immunization coverage in pediatrics. We searched for relevant studies across four databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed/EMBASE, and Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to extract relevant studies while excluding irrelevant ones. We found 4,085 studies on four different databases in which 23 satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These 23 relevant studies involving 29,131 parents, guardians, and caregivers from over 30 countries met the inclusion criteria and quality assessment. Studies were assessed for risk bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Vaccination hesitancy is caused by several factors, such as cultural customs, economic reforms, perceived rumors, myths, misconceptions, physicians and other healthcare professionals, and perceived risks and problems of vaccines. These results highlight the importance of addressing demand-side factors related to socioeconomic determinants and supply-side issues such as improving health literacy, combating misinformation, ensuring clarity in communication, and promoting a consistent, evidence-based message. More observations and research should be conducted regularly to develop strategies for encouraging youngsters to receive immunizations in large quantities.

Parents' or legal guardians' beliefs and attitudes about childhood vaccination: a scoping review

OBJECTIVE

to map scientific evidence about perceptions, beliefs, knowledge and attitudes of parents or legal guardians of children under 5 years of age regarding routine childhood vaccination.

METHODS

a scoping review, conducted in accordance with the JBI framework. The searches were carried out in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and LILACS databases. A total of 5,535 studies were returned and 77 were selected, which met the inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

perceptions related to interaction with healthcare professionals and services, with family organization and structure, with social interaction and public policies, cultural, religious and personal beliefs, knowledge about vaccination schedule, vaccination and immunization process and sources of information are the main factors mapped and which can positively or negatively influence parents' or legal guardians' attitudes towards vaccinating children.

CONCLUSIONS

the findings allow us to identify factors related to parents' perception and beliefs about childhood vaccination.

Understanding Factors Contributing to Vaccine Hesitancy in a Large Metropolitan Area

Vaccine hesitancy has become a major global concern, leading to a significant decrease in the vaccination rate, with the World Health Organization recognizing it as one of the top ten threats to public health. Moreover, the health cost generated is evaluated to be 27 billion dollars per year in the US alone. To investigate the association between demographic variables and knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to vaccination, a survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 1163 individuals. Three models were used to perform a multiple linear regression analysis. In Model I, knowledge about vaccinations was found to be associated with smoking habits, education, and marital status. In Model II, attitudes towards vaccinations were significantly associated with sex, smoking habits, education, marital status, and knowledge. In Model III, behaviours related to vaccination were associated with sex, smoking habits, having children, knowledge, and attitudes. One potential solution to improve behaviours related to vaccinations in the general population is to implement specific public health programs, which can be a cost-effective intervention. This study provides valuable insights into the determinants of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to vaccinations in the general population.