Peer-reviewed article
Childhood Vaccine Refusal: Sociodemographic, Behavioral, and Vaccine Confidence Factors in Konya, Türkiye.
Önder Aydemir, Elif Nur Yıldırım-Öztürk, Mehmet Koç ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study identifies factors associated with parents refusing childhood vaccines in Konya, Turkey. Researchers compared 406 parents who refused vaccines with 412 parents whose children were fully vaccinated. Maternal employment, parental COVID-19 vaccination, and the mother's own vaccination history were protective factors, while perceived vaccine side effects in the community and having more children increased refusal. Parents who refused vaccines scored significantly lower on measures of vaccine confidence.
Key points
- Maternal employment reduced vaccine refusal odds by 63% (aOR = 0.371)
- Parental COVID-19 vaccination was strongly protective, reducing refusal odds by 87% (aOR = 0.131)
- Perceived vaccine-related adverse events in social networks increased refusal odds nearly 17-fold (aOR = 16.982)
- Vaccine hesitancy scale scores were significantly lower in the refusal group (22.2 vs 39.8)
- 21.9% of refusing parents reported being advised by a healthcare professional not to vaccinate
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional and cannot establish causality; it only identifies associations. The findings are specific to Konya and may not generalize to other regions of Turkey or other countries.
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Childhood vaccine refusal may negatively affect immunization programs in Türkiye, where regional clusters of hesitancy have emerged despite high national coverage. This study aimed to identify sociodemographic, behavioral, and vaccine confidence-related factors independently associated with childhood vaccine refusal in Konya, Türkiye. Methods: An unmatched case-control study was conducted between July and October 2025 in family health centers across Konya. Cases were parents who had refused at least one routine childhood vaccine (n = 406); controls were parents whose children had completed all routine vaccinations (n = 412). Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a 47-item structured questionnaire and the Turkish version of the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS). Independent associations were assessed using multivariable logistic regression, with multicollinearity evaluated by variance inflation factors. Results: Maternal employment (aOR = 0.371, 95% CI: 0.218-0.633), parental COVID-19 vaccination (aOR = 0.131, 95% CI: 0.086-0.200), mother's complete childhood immunization (aOR = 0.418, 95% CI: 0.262-0.667), tetanus vaccination during pregnancy (aOR = 0.259, 95% CI: 0.159-0.421), and neonatal vitamin K administration (aOR = 0.256, 95% CI: 0.132-0.497) were independently associated with lower refusal odds. Higher number of children (aOR = 1.281) and perceived vaccine-related adverse events in the social environment (aOR = 16.982, 95% CI: 9.914-29.089) increased refusal odds. VHS scores were significantly lower in the refusal group (22.2 ± 6.4 vs. 39.8 ± 6.5; p < 0.001), indicating greater hesitancy. Notably, 21.9% of refusing parents reported being advised by a healthcare professional not to vaccinate. Conclusions: Childhood vaccine refusal in Konya was associated with sociodemographic, behavioral, preventive health-related, and vaccine confidence-related factors. The findings suggest relatively reduced engagement with selected preventive health practices, greater reliance on non-professional information sources, and lower vaccine confidence among refusing parents. Interventions should focus on strengthening healthcare-professional communication, trust-building, transparent risk communication, and evidence-based social media strategies.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Identification of sociodemographic, behavioral, and vaccine confidence factors associated with vaccine refusal to inform targeted interventions
- Population
- Parents in Konya, Turkey; 406 who refused vaccines and 412 whose children completed all routine vaccinations
Key finding
Maternal employment associated with lower refusal odds (aOR = 0.371, 95% CI: 0.218-0.633)
Aydemir et al. · PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) · 17 Jun 2026