scholarly journals Vaccine hesitancy and non-vaccination in an Irish paediatric outpatient population

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
SO Whelan ◽  
F Moriarty ◽  
L Lawlor ◽  
K Gorman ◽  
J Beamish
Keyword(s):  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Paediatric Hospital ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
High Negative Predictive Value ◽  
Paediatric Outpatient ◽  
Childhood Vaccines

AbstractObjectiveTo administer the Parent Attitudes Childhood Vaccines (PACV) questionnaire to assess vaccine hesitancy and its relationship with non-vaccination.DesignA cross-sectional study using the 15-item PACV questionnaire, with sociodemographic questions.SettingOutpatient department in a tertiary paediatric hospital, Dublin, Ireland.ParticipantsParents/caregivers of children attending general paediatric clinics.Main outcome measuresPACV score and reported non-vaccination. We assessed sociodemographic factors associated with PACV score and accuracy of the PACV in predicting non-vaccination.ResultsIn total, 436 participants completed the questionnaire. 5.5% of our population reported non-vaccination. HPV and MMR vaccines were the most commonly cited vaccines of concern (11.5% and 6.7% respectively) and autism spectrum disorder was the most commonly side effect of concern (4.3%). Mean PACV score was 26.9 (SD 19.1), with a significant difference between non-vaccinators and vaccinators (53.2 vs 25.3, p<0.001). Safety and efficacy concerns were the major contributor to non-vaccination. 14.4% of our population were vaccine-hesitant using the conventional cut-off score, which increased to 22% when using an optimal cut-off which maximised sensitivity and specificity. The accuracy of the PACV score to identify non-vaccination was good (area under the ROC curve = 0.827) and the optimal cut-off had a high negative predictive value (98.5%).ConclusionsPACV identified non-vaccination with high accuracy in our population. It may be useful to screen vaccine hesitant parents who could benefit from interventions to improve uptake.

scholarly journals Attitude, Familiarity and Religious Beliefs about Vaccination among Health Science and Non-Health Science Students in a Malaysian Public University

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1462-1473
Author(s):  
Ramdan M. Elkalmi ◽  
Eman Dyab ◽  
Azyyati Mohd Suhaimi ◽  
Ali Qais Blebil ◽  
Mohamed Hassan Elnaem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Attitude Score ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Mean

Vaccine hesitancy has surfaced globally within the last few decades, and the fears and misconceptions of people about vaccine safety and effectiveness have been identified as key factors for their under-utilization. The familiarity, attitudes, and religious beliefs of the public and of future healthcare practitioners regarding vaccination are extensive areas needing exploration. The present exploratory cross-sectional study was designed, planned and carried out on students enrolled in health science and non-health science courses in one of the public universities of Malaysia. A research instrument that had been formulated, validated and subjected to reliability testing was used to collect the data, which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A response rate of 80.8% (n = 202) was obtained: the majority were female (n = 161, 79.7%), and had been vaccinated before (n = 190, 97.5%), while a mere 2% did not support vaccination for reasons pertaining to safety issues. The vaccine familiarity score was 10.79 ± 1.4, which significantly differed among the study disciplines (p < 0.001). The mean of the total attitude score was 14.95 ± 1.5, with no significant difference among demographics being noted. The mean of the total religious beliefs score was 24.29 ± 2.8 and significantly differed based on gender (p = 0.040) and study disciplines (p < 0.001). The current findings showed that the participants were familiar with vaccines and had generally positive attitudes and positive religious beliefs toward vaccination; thus, one can expect that their inclusion in immunization campaigns will generate positive outcomes of the immunization program. Although the current research reported few knowledge gaps, these may be handled with the introduction of a specialized immunization course at an undergraduate level.

scholarly journals Attitudes and Intentions toward COVID-19 Vaccination among Health Professions Students and Faculty in Qatar

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1275
Author(s):  
Amine Zaidi ◽  
Amal Elmasaad ◽  
Hend Alobaidli ◽  
Rana Sayed ◽  
Dana Al-Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Natural Immunity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact ◽  
To Receive

A population’s desire to take the COVID-19 vaccine is an important predictor of a country’s future pandemic management. This cross-sectional study examines the impact of psychological and sociodemographic factors on attitudes toward and intentions to take the COVID-19 vaccine among students and faculty at four colleges of health professions and sciences at Qatar University. The data were collected through an online survey using Google Forms. The survey was distributed through various online platforms. Data analysis was conducted using Stata 16. Of the 364 participants, 9.89% expressed a high mistrust of vaccine safety, and 21.7% were uncertain about their levels of trust; 28% expressed strong worries about unforeseen side effects, whereas 54.95% expressed moderate worries. Furthermore, 7.69% expressed strong concerns and 39.84% showed moderate concerns about commercial profiteering. Approximately 13% of the participants expressed a strong preference towards natural immunity, whilst 45.33% appeared to believe that natural immunity might be better than a vaccine. Importantly, 68.13% of the participants intended to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it became available, compared to 17.03% who were uncertain and 14.83% who were unwilling to be vaccinated. Our findings differ from the data on vaccine hesitancy among the general population of Qatar. We argue that this gap is due to scientific knowledge and domain of education. Furthermore, although knowledge and awareness may affect vaccine attitudes, mental health and sociodemographic factors play a role in shaping attitudes towards vaccines.

scholarly journals THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE USE OF ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA AND COCAINE AND THE SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF RIBEIRÃO PRETO, BRAZIL

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (spe) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Guidorizzi Zanetti ◽  
Francisco Cumsille ◽  
Robert Mann
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chi Square Test

ABSTRACT Objective: to determine the prevalence of use in life and in the last three months of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine among university students from the social and health Sciences areas of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil and to evaluate the association between use in life and in the last three months of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine and the variables gender, area of the course, with whom the student lives, importance of religion, age and year of study. Method: a cross-sectional study, carried out with a convenience sample of 275 students from a public university in Ribeirão Preto-SP. For data collection, two instruments were used, containing sociodemographic, training and psychoactive substances. For the analysis, the following tests were used: Fisher's exact test, Chi-square test of Person and Mann-Whitney test. Results: As for sociodemographic factors, there was a significant association between the gender of the participants among the use of marijuana and cocaine in life (p=0.024 and p=0.005, respectively) and the last three months (p=0.013 and p=0.009, respectively), among the importance of religion and the lifetime use of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine (p <0.001, p <0.001 and p = 0.024, respectively) and the use of only marijuana in the last three months (p <0.001) and among the use of marijuana in the last three months and the year of graduation (p=0.003). Regarding age, the results showed a significant difference only between the groups that reported not to use alcohol in life (p=0.037). Conclusion: the investigated university students presented a prevalence of use in their lifetime and in the last three months of marijuana and cocaine greater among men, but not for alcohol. The importance of religion was negatively associated with the use of investigated drugs. The results can provide important subsidies for the structuring of preventive measures for abuse of psychoactive substances between university students and the need for new investigations that cover the subject.

scholarly journals The feasibility of Gazefinder under 12 months of age infants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuntaro Fukushima ◽  
Tomoo Takahashi ◽  
Kazuki Tsukamoto ◽  
Misaki Matsumura ◽  
Ryo Takigawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Fixation Time ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Developmental Problems ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Mean

AbstractEye-tracking to evaluate gaze patterns has developed as an assessment tool for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Gazefinder is one of Eye-tracking devices and few studies have investigated whether it can measure the gaze data of infants under 12 months of age. We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study from April 2019 to March 2020 in a periodic health checkup in Ohchi County, Shimane, Japan. Participants included infants between 4 and 11 months of age who were not suspected the presence of developmental problems. Ninety-three participants’ datapoints were analyzed. The mean age was 6.5 months and mean developmental quotient was 88%. The mean fixation time percentage of all sequences was 81.0% (standard deviation; 4.4), and there was no significant difference in each age group. Infants in all groups showed a significantly higher predilection for eyes than for mouths. There was a positive association of age with human gaze and a negative association with geometric gaze. Moreover, we confirmed that joint attention skills were enhanced in accordance with their growth process. The eye-tracking data were almost corresponding to previous studies’ data of infant with typical development and Gazefinder could be applied to infants starting at 4 months of age.

scholarly journals Assessing Vaccine Hesitancy among Healthcare Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study at an Italian Paediatric Hospital and the Development of a Healthcare Worker’s Vaccination Compliance Index

Vaccines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Paoli ◽  
Chiara Lorini ◽  
Francesco Puggelli ◽  
Antonino Sala ◽  
Maddalena Grazzini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Seasonal Influenza ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Paediatric Hospital ◽  
System A ◽  
Strategic Training

Healthcare workers (HCWs) in paediatric hospitals are an important source of advice on vaccinations, but vaccine hesitancy can affect even these professionals. The aim of this study is to assess this phenomenon, measuring it by means of a scoring system. A survey was conducted in five departments of an Italian paediatric university hospital of national interest. Vaccination against influenza was considered a behavioral indicator of vaccination uptake. Using the collected data, the healthcare worker’s vaccination compliance index (HVCI) was computed. The results demonstrate statistically significant differences between departments and professional profiles. Nearly 80% of the sample was not immunized against seasonal influenza. According to the HVCI scores, the most hesitant departments are the intensive care unit, emergency room, and oncohematology department, while the most hesitant professional profiles are nurses and auxiliary staff. The score of the unvaccinated is significantly lower than that of the vaccinated, and the same difference was found between those who self-perceive to be skilled versus unskilled. The HVCI score was statistically verified as a predictive parameter to assess vaccination against seasonal influenza. By means of strategic training policies, both HVCI and perceived skills could be improved, suggesting that hospital management should draw a complex intervention program to fight against hesitancy.

scholarly journals Behavior Management of Children with Autism

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
Baydaa Ali Othman Al – Rawi
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Management ◽  
Physical Restraint ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Dmft Index ◽  
Dental Professional

Background: Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) is a term refers to the overarching group of conditions to which autism spectrum disorder (ASD) belongs . Objective: This study was designed to determine the existing behavior of children with autism in dental sitting, the behavior improvements in recall dental visits and evaluate the improvement in oral hygiene with using specific visual pedagogy chart. Type of the study: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty children of both genders, ages ranged from 4 – 6 years having primary teeth only were selected whose medical history included a diagnosis of autism. The behavior of the children in dental sitting were assessed according to the Frankel scale. The dmft index in the first visit was measured, with codes and criteria established by the WHO(1997).Behavior management method used was one or more of the followings: (physical restraint, "Tell-Show-Feel and Do" technique, verbal and non – verbal communication, reinforcement, parent present / absent). Results: The samples represent by 22 males and 18 females autistic children with no statically significant difference (p> 0.05).The dmft index of autistic children in the first visit. The dmft (mean ± SD) for males was (7.818 ± 0.98) while for females was (6.922 ± 1.09).The frequency of children showed treatment acceptance without difficulty was increase in the recall visits. Conclusions: The dental professional should be flexible to modify the treatment approach according to the individual patient needs.  

scholarly journals Validation of the Tunisian Test for Facial Emotions Recognition: Study in Children From 7 to 12 Years Old

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Taamallah ◽  
Soumeyya Halayem ◽  
Olfa Rajhi ◽  
Malek Ghazzai ◽  
Mohamed Moussa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Facial Emotions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Background: Facial expressions transmit information about emotional state, facilitating communication and regulation in interpersonal relationships. Their acute recognition is essential in social adaptation and lacks among children suffering from autism spectrum disorders. The aim of our study was to validate the “Recognition of Facial Emotions: Tunisian Test for Children” among Tunisian children in order to assess facial emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among neurotypical children from the general population. The final version of or test consisted of a static subtest of 114 photographs and a dynamic subtest of 36 videos expressing the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise), presented by actors of different ages and genders. The test items were coded according to Ekman’s “Facial Action Coding System” method. The validation study focused on the validity of the content, the validity of the construct and the reliability.Results: We included 116 neurotypical children, from 7 to 12 years old. Our population was made up of 54 boys and 62 girls. The reliability’s study showed good internal consistency for each subtest: the Cronbach coefficient was 0.88 for the static subtest and 0.85 for the dynamic subtest. The study of the internal structure through the exploratory factor analysis of the items of emotions and those of intensity showed that the distribution of the items in sub-domains was similar to their theoretical distribution. Age was significantly correlated to the mean of the overall score for both subtests (p &lt; 10–3). Gender was no significantly correlated to the overall score (p = 0.15). High intensity photographs were better recognized. The emotion of happiness was the most recognized in both subtests. A significant difference between the overall score of the static and dynamic subtest, in favor of the dynamic one, was identified (p &lt; 10–3).Conclusion: This work provides clinicians with a reliable tool to assess recognition of facial emotions in typically developing children.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of Corneal Topography in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vision ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Maha A. ALGarzaie ◽  
Ali M. Alsaqr
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Corneal Topography ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Corneal Asphericity

Purpose: To investigate the corneal characteristics in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age-matched typical development (TD) participants. Methods: This cross-sectional, clinically based study compared children with ASD to age-matched TD participants. Corneal topography was measured with a portable EyeSys Vista system. The distance visual acuity (VA) and the contrast sensitivity (CS) were determined. The refractive error (RE) was assessed using a 2WIN autorefractometer. Results: A total of 31 children with ASD (mean age: 12.78 ± 4.49 years), and 60 participants with TD (mean age: 13.65 ± 3.56 years) were recruited. The two groups were similar in age (t = −2.084, p = 0.075) and VA (t = −0.35, p = 0.32). Most of the children with ASD had a significant amount of refractive errors (REs; range: +5.25 to −5.50 DS), and astigmatism was dominant (range: −0.25 to −4.50 DC). There was no statistically significant difference between both groups in terms of average corneal power (t = 1.12, p = 0.39). The children with ASD and participants with TD also did not differ significantly in terms of corneal shape descriptors (p > 0.05), such as corneal asphericity, inferior superior index, opposite sector index, and differential sector index. The spherical equivalent did not differ significantly between the ASD participants and participants with TD (t = 1.15, p = 0.15). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the astigmatism component between the ASD participants and the participants with TD.

scholarly journals Vaccine hesitancy among parents in Kuala Lumpur: a single center study

F1000Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Farouk Musa ◽  
Trived Soni ◽  
Xian Pei Cheong ◽  
Rusli Bin Nordin
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Immunization Coverage ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Past Experiences

Background: Vaccine hesitancy (VH) is defined as the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite availability of vaccination services. The main objective of this study was to improve the understanding of vaccine hesitancy (VH) among parents in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, by determining the prevalence of VH among parents and to identify the predictors associated with a vaccine hesitant attitude. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in KL. A questionnaire was devised to collect information from parents, namely sociodemographic information, WHO determinants of VH and the Parents Attitude towards Childhood Vaccine (PACV) scale. Results: A total of 380 questionnaires were distributed and 337 were returned (88.6% response rate). Those that completed 49 (>90%) out of the 55 given questions in the survey were included for data analysis. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23 were excluded, giving a sample size of 314. To identify parents, those with at least one child were included, giving a sample size of 221. We noted 60.2% (189) of the participants were females and 80.3% (252) were Malay. Our study found a prevalence of VH of 14.5% among parents based on the 15-item PACV scale.  Univariate analysis found no link between sociodemographic factors and VH in parents. Only five of these determinants were included in the final model as statistically significant (p< 0.05) predictors of VH among parents in KL. The five factors were introduction to a new vaccine, negative past experiences of vaccinations, distrust of the pharmaceutical industry, distrust of health systems and providers and being male. Conclusions: Factors contributing towards a prevalence of VH of 14.5% in KL, Malaysia must be studied further to identify any temporal relationship to the under-immunization of children in order to reach the WHO goal of 100% immunization coverage in children and eradication of vaccine preventable diseases.

scholarly journals Factors affecting vaccine hesitancy among families with children 2 years old and younger in two urban communities in Manila, Philippines

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
Julius Migriño, Jr. ◽  
Billy Gayados ◽  
Karen Rachel Joyce Birol ◽  
Lorelie De Jesus ◽  
Christopher Willis Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Vaccine Confidence ◽  
Families With Children

Objective: The study aimed to determine the factors that influence vaccine hesitancy among parents and caregivers of children 2 years old and younger in selected urban communities in Manila, Philippines. Methodology: The study used a cross-sectional study design with a modified questionnaire adapted from the SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. Self-administered surveys were conducted in two highly urbanized barangays (smallest administrative divisions) in Manila, Philippines. Results: The survey was completed by 110 respondents, comprised mostly of 20–39-year-old mothers. Most respondents (95.5%) believed that vaccines are protective however vaccine hesitancy rates among the respondents reached 36.4%. Respondents who believed in the protective nature of vaccines were less likely to report vaccine hesitancy and were nine times less likely to refuse vaccination for their children because of negative media exposure. The main reasons identified for vaccine hesitancy were exposure to negative media information and concerns about vaccine safety. The main negative media information identified by the respondents was related to the dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia®. Health-care workers and political leaders were the main supporters of vaccination in the community. Discussion: The recent events surrounding the Dengvaxia® controversy contributed to a decrease in vaccine confidence. The role of mass media in vaccine hesitancy was highlighted in this study, supporting previous evidence that vaccine hesitant parents tend to be more susceptible to media reports. The lack of association between sociodemographic factors and vaccine hesitancy implies that the determinants of vaccine hesitancy can be highly varied depending on context and setting.

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