Parents' attitudes and behaviours towards recommended vaccinations in Sicily, Italy

• Main Authors: Giammanco Giuseppe (Author), Privitera Donatella (Author), Platania Marco (Author), Coniglio Maria (Author), Pignato Sarina (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since a long time, Italy has maintained a dual system to administer childhood immunisations, that is a certain number of mandatory vaccinations and a number of recommended vaccinations. The study aimed to explore the issues surrounding parental acceptance or non-acceptance of the recommended vaccinations for children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Parents of children aged 3-5 years of day-care centres in Sicily were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire. Determinants of the attitude towards recommended vaccinations and social influence on the decision-making process were assessed using logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1,500 selected parents, 81.0% participated in the study. Prior to the survey, the majority of children (97.6%) received recommended vaccines. Most parents (74.4%) received information about vaccinations from Family Paediatricians, showed a good knowledge about the side effects of the vaccines (73.1%), did not worry about their potential dangerousness (53.0%) and would have accepted their children to be vaccinated even if it was not required for day care (84.1%). The majority (79.9%) were not disposed to follow the advises of the anti-vaccination movements. Parents' background characteristics, sources of information and social influence were not significantly associated with parental acceptance of recommended vaccines for childhood.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that health information by Family Paediatricians is significantly associated with parental acceptance of recommended vaccinations.</p>

Item Description

10.1186/1471-2458-11-305
1471-2458