Dataset Information

To Vaccinate or Not: The Relative Impact of Attitudes toward Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Ability to Interpret Scientific Information on Vaccination Decisions.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:This pilot study investigated vaccine decision making, i.e., the relationships between knowledge and attitudes towards autism spectrum disorders (ASD), scientific literacy, attitudes toward the (MMR) vaccine, and children's MMR vaccination status. METHODS:A sample of 132 parents and expectant parents (mean age 38.40 years; >60% with university education) participated in a survey where they were asked about their knowledge of ASD, attitudes towards ASD and MMR, and their children's MMR vaccine status. The participants also completed a standardized science test (The American College Test) to test their scientific literacy. RESULTS:Knowledge of ASD was positively correlated with attitudes towards ASD. Attitudes towards ASD were positively correlated with scientific literacy and attitudes towards MMR. Attitudes towards MMR were positively correlated with MMR vaccine status (i.e., vaccination decision). DISCUSSION:Factors other than scientific literacy seem to contribute towards children's MMR vaccine status such as attitudes towards MMR. However, these are preliminary findings and need to be interpreted with caution.

SUBMITTER: Thorsteinsson EB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7177799 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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To Vaccinate or Not: The Relative Impact of Attitudes toward Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Ability to Interpret Scientific Information on Vaccination Decisions.

Thorsteinsson Einar B EB Draper Anja A Lykins Amy D AD

International journal of environmental research and public health 20200408 7

<h4>Background</h4>This pilot study investigated vaccine decision making, i.e., the relationships between knowledge and attitudes towards autism spectrum disorders (ASD), scientific literacy, attitudes toward the (MMR) vaccine, and children's MMR vaccination status.<h4>Methods</h4>A sample of 132 parents and expectant parents (mean age 38.40 years; >60% with university education) participated in a survey where they were asked about their knowledge of ASD, attitudes towards ASD and MMR, and their ...[more]

PMID: 32276348

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Project description:Background While HPV vaccination uptake in Sweden is quite high, at around 80%, vaccine hesitancy remains an issue in countries throughout Europe. The latter can be related to a contemporary context of increased contestation of expert knowledge and of a large share of information on health-related issues including vaccination today being sought via the internet. Still, there is a paucity of recent research on attitudes toward the HPV vaccine in a larger sample of the population in Sweden. This survey study assesses such attitudes and any correlations between vaccine hesitancy and sociodemographic characteristics, trust in healthcare and other societal institutions, and evaluation of the reliability of different sources of information. Methods The validated survey questionnaire was distributed to adult women in Sweden (n = 2,000), via a nationally representative web panel. The response rate was 37%. Aside from descriptive statistics, associations between vaccine hesitancy and sociodemographic and other variables were computed using logistic regressions and expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Results Our results show a positive attitude toward HPV vaccination overall. Still, some degree of HPV vaccine hesitancy was indicated by 33.8% of the respondents, and more pronounced hesitancy by 7.6%. Regarding vaccination in general, a very positive attitude was indicated by 55%. HPV vaccine hesitancy was associated with low education and low income and strongly associated with a lack of confidence in healthcare and other societal institutions. It was also correlated with a self-assessed lack of access to, and ability to assess the origin, quality and reliability of, information about the HPV vaccine. Conclusion Efforts to provide transparent information about HPV vaccination should be combined with healthcare providers being open to discuss vaccine concerns with patients and avoiding practices that do not promote trust.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Despite the implementation of codes and declarations of medical research ethics, unethical behavior is still reported among researchers. Most of the medical faculties have included topics related to medical research ethics and developed ethical committees; yet, in some cases, unethical behaviors are still observed, and many obstacles are still conferring to applying these guidelines. METHODS:This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted by interviewing randomly selected 331 Lebanese physicians across Lebanon, to assess their awareness, knowledge and attitudes on practice regarding international and national research ethics guidelines (Lebanese decrees/Laws and CNRS chart of ethics) and scientific misconduct and misbehaviors. RESULTS:Our results revealed that although majority of participants declared familiar with ethical principles governing research that involves human subjects (79.5%), the overall mean score achieved on their knowledge questions was 46%. Only 27.4% are aware of the presence of the Lebanese National Consultative Committee on Ethics (LNCCE), with only half of them aware of its functions and only 25.7% know about the charter of ethics and guiding principles of scientific research in Lebanon. Significant higher levels of research ethics knowledge were recorded among Ph.D. degree-holding subjects, higher university positions as in professors, research ethics trainings-attendees, and physicians with prior research experience. A significant correlation was observed between knowledge of research ethics principles and positive attitudes toward research ethics principles. Noteworthy, we found that more than one third of participants have reported witnessing scientific misconduct and misbehaviors at some period of their careers. CONCLUSIONS:The presence of low mean awareness levels regarding research ethical principles among the study population of physicians and high levels of perception of scientific misconduct raises concern on the importance of implementing proper training for physicians on research ethics.

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Dataset Information

To Vaccinate or Not: The Relative Impact of Attitudes toward Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Ability to Interpret Scientific Information on Vaccination Decisions.

Publications

To Vaccinate or Not: The Relative Impact of Attitudes toward Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Ability to Interpret Scientific Information on Vaccination Decisions.

Similar Datasets

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