Abstract
Introduction
Vaccines stimulate the immune system and provides protection against a large number of diseases. Although there is a lot of scientific evidence that the benefits of vaccines are higher than their risks, concerns can occur in every segment of the community about the safety of vaccines.In this study, we aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the faculty members working at Inonu University regarding vaccine rejection.
Methods
This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted between July and August 2019. The universe of this study consists of 799 faculty members working at Inonu University. Sample size was calculated as 258 with 95% confidence interval and 80% power. The questionnaire used in the study consists of the questions including the sociodemographic characteristics of the faculty members and their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about childhood vaccine rejection. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. p < 0.05 was determined to be significant.
Results
99.1% of the faculty members had their children vaccinated during their childhood. 31.8% of faculty members stated that they were worried about childhood vaccines.As a source of information about vaccines, faculty members stated the scientific articles in highest rate (49.4%).It was found in comparison that parents who applied alternative medicine for their children were more worried about vaccines than those who did not, and those who did not read scientific publications about vaccines were more worried than to those who read (p < 0.05).The levels of anxiety are significantly lower in those who do not think that vaccines cause autism and infertility, and those who trust vaccine producing companies (p < 0.05).
Conclusions
Almost all of the faculty members have their children vaccinated, but their level of anxiety about vaccines is high. In our study, we observed that those who obtained their knowledge about vaccines from scientific articles were less anxious.
Key messages
Faculty members, who are among the most educated groups of the society, have a high level of anxiety about childhood vaccination. By keeping faculty members informed about the scientific publications about vaccines, their concerns about the vaccine can be eliminated.