Peer-reviewed article
Parents' willingness to vaccinate their children with special health care needs: a cross-sectional study.
Wang L, Yang M, Wang X, Ye Q, Yang X et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study surveyed 904 parents of children with special health care needs in Wuxi, China to understand their willingness to vaccinate their children. Most parents (95.58%) were willing to vaccinate. The research found that parental education level and awareness of vaccination assessment clinics were the strongest predictors of vaccination willingness. Parents with higher knowledge about vaccines and access to vaccination consultation services were more likely to immunize their children.
Key points
- 95.58% of parents of children with special health care needs were willing to vaccinate their children
- Parental education level was a significant predictor of vaccination willingness
- Awareness and use of vaccination assessment clinics was significantly associated with greater willingness to vaccinate
- Parents' knowledge of vaccines influenced their vaccination willingness
- The study used stratified sampling in Wuxi, China with 904 parent/guardian respondents
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study describing associations only, not causation, and conducted in one Chinese city, so findings may not generalize to other regions or populations. The study does not explain the mechanisms behind why some parents hesitate to vaccinate or provide details on the specific concerns of parents of children with special health care needs.
Abstract
Background Parents of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) usually hesitate to vaccinate their children, yet limited data on factors influencing parents' willingness to vaccinate their children are available. Our study aimed to reveal parents' willingness to immunize their children with the Expanded Programme on Immunization Vaccines and identify determinants influencing parents' willingness. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey using a stratified sampling approach in Wuxi, China. Description methods were used to describe guardians' willingness to vaccinate their children, and logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the influencing factors of parents' willingness. Results A total of 904 parents/guardians were collected; 864 (95.58%) were willing to immunize their children. Univariate analysis revealed that parents' knowledge of vaccines and their awareness of vaccination assessment clinics were factors that influenced vaccination willingness. The multivariate logistic regression results indicated that parental education level and awareness of vaccination assessment clinics were significant predictors of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children. Conclusion Higher parental knowledge and use of vaccination consultation clinic services are associated with greater willingness to vaccinate among parents of children with special health care needs.