Mothers' intentions to vaccinate their teenaged children against human papillomavirus, as predicted by sex in South Korea: An application of the theory of planned behavior

"I'll take them another day": A qualitative study exploring the socio-behavioral complexities of childhood vaccination in urban poor settlements

Despite improvement over recent decades, childhood vaccination uptake remains a concern across countries. The World Health Organization observed that over 25 million children missed out on one or more vaccines in 2021, with urban poor and other marginalized groups being the most affected. Given the higher risk of disease transmission and vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) outbreaks across densely populated urban slums, identifying effective interventions to improve childhood vaccination in this vulnerable population is crucial. This study explored the behavioral and social factors influencing childhood vaccination uptake in urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. A grounded theory approach was employed to develop a theoretical account of the socio-behavioral determinants of childhood vaccination. Five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with purposively sampled caregivers of children under five years of age residing in informal settlements. The Theory of Planned Behavior guided the structuring of the FGD questions. An iterative process was used to analyze and identify emerging themes. Thirty-nine caregivers (median age 29 years) participated in the FGDs. From the analysis, four main thematic categories were derived. These included attitude factors such as perceived vaccine benefits, cultural beliefs, and emotional factors including parental love. Additionally, subjective norms, like fear of social judgment, and perceived behavioral control factors, such as self-control and gender-based influences, were identified. Furthermore, a number of practical factors, including the cost of vaccines and healthcare providers attitude, also affected the uptake of vaccination. Various social, behavioral, cultural, and contextual factors influence caregiver vaccination decisions in urban poor settings. Community-derived and context-specific approaches that address the complex interaction between socio-behavioral and other contextual factors need to be tested and applied to improve the timely uptake of childhood vaccinations among marginalized populations.

Parents' willingness to vaccinate their daughters with human papillomavirus vaccine and associated factors in Debretabor town, Northwest Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the primary causative agent of cervical cancer. Vaccination against the HPV infection is an effective prevention measure for HPV-related diseases. This study aimed to assess parents' willingness to vaccinate their daughters with Human Papillomavirus vaccine and associated factors in Debre Tabor town. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of daughters in Debre Tabor town, and a cluster sampling technique was used to select 738 study participants. A structured and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered into EPI data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was done and a p-value of ≤ 0.05 was used to declare the level of significance. In this study, parents' willingness for HPV vaccination was found to be 79.10% (95% CI: 76.00, 82.00). Parents having media exposure, had good knowledge of HPV infection, and HPV vaccine, positive attitude, and positive perceived behavioral control toward the HPV vaccine had statistically significant association with willingness for the HPV vaccination of their daughters. Parents' willingness to HPV vaccination for their daughters was higher compared with a previous study done in the setting. Parental knowledge and their beliefs on HPV vaccination, and media exposure play an important role in the HPV vaccination of adolescents. Strengthening community-based education and effective promotion through multimedia on HPV infection and its prevention, addressing parental safety concerns and promoting their positive beliefs about the vaccine are important to increase parents' willingness.

An Integrative Review of the Influence on Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Adherence among Adolescents

To enhance the vaccination rate of adolescents against HPV, understanding their current vaccination intentions and identifying the factors that influence their decision to vaccinate are imperative. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was used to search for relative literature. Five electronic databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Web of science, Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) and Korea Citation Index (KCI)) were searched from 2007 to 2022, and 19 studies were selected for final review. The Mixed Methods Assessment Tool (MMAT) was used as a critical appraisal tool to evaluate the quality for various types of research designs. This integrative review revealed three themes, including facilitators (personal characteristics and environmental factors), barriers (lack of awareness and knowledge about HPV, concerns about side effects, and the burden of costs), and ways to increase vaccination uptake (knowledge promotion and HPV vaccines coverage by public insurance). To encourage HPV vaccine uptake, it is essential to enhance public knowledge, create compelling advertisements, and ensure that the vaccines are covered by public insurance. Moreover, providing educational programs that emphasize the effectiveness and significance of HPV vaccines to adults who can influence the vaccination decisions of adolescents is vital.

Predictors of Orthorexia Nervosa behavior in women within the framework of the theory of planned behavior

PURPOSE

This study aims to examine the predictors of Orthorexia Nervosa behavior in women.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted with 418 women of reproductive age in Turkey.

FINDINGS

More positive attitudes towards healthy eating and higher levels of control were significantly associated with more positive intentions. High Orthorexia Nervosa and low control were significantly associated with high body mass index.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Within the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, predictors of Orthorexia Nervosa behavior in women were determined as an attitude towards healthy eating, perceived behavioral control, intention, and body mass index.

Investigating host-virus interaction mechanism and phylogenetic analysis of viral proteins involved in the pathogenesis

Since the emergence of yellow fever in the Americas and the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic, biologists and clinicians have been drawn to human infecting viruses to understand their mechanisms of infection better and develop effective therapeutics against them. However, the complex molecular and cellular processes that these viruses use to infect and multiply in human cells have been a source of great concern for the scientific community since the discovery of the first human infecting virus. Viral disease outbreaks, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus, have claimed millions of lives and caused significant economic damage worldwide. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of host-virus interaction and the molecular machinery involved in the pathogenesis of some common human viruses. We also performed a phylogenetic analysis of viral proteins involved in host-virus interaction to understand the changes in the sequence organization of these proteins during evolution for various strains of viruses to gain insights into the viral origin's evolutionary perspectives.

Predictors of COVID-19 vaccine intentions in the United States: the role of psychosocial health constructs and demographic factors

Background

On December 21, 2020, a study was conducted to investigate a range of psychosocial health constructs and demographic variables potentially associated with intentions toward accepting or forgoing the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

Purpose

The goal of the study was to identify predictors of forgoing COVID-19 vaccination at the time of the initial rollout.

Methods

A cross-sectional, representative online survey of 350 U.S. residents was conducted using the online crowdsourcing site Prolific to assess vaccine intentions, health attitudes, and demographic information. Variables examined included demographic factors and health constructs corresponding to each of the elements of the health belief model (perceived severity, susceptibility, benefits, barriers, and cues to action), the theory of planned behavior (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control), attitudes toward vaccines in general, and trust in the COVID-19 vaccine approval process.

Results

After using hierarchical linear regression to control for demographics, the health constructs uniquely associated with the likelihood to forgo vaccination were perceived barriers, general attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine, subjective norms, and trust in the vaccine approval process. Significant demographic predictors of vaccine reluctance included being female, politically conservative, and more religious.

Conclusions

The current research identified three demographic factors and four health constructs uniquely associated with vaccine acceptance. These findings reveal that the constructs contained within the health belief model and theory of planned behavior can be used to predict COVID-19 vaccination intentions, and can be supplemented with an assessment of general vaccine attitudes and attitudes toward the vaccine approval process.

Resources for assessing parents' vaccine hesitancy: a systematic review of the literature

The concept of Vaccine Hesitancy has begun to appear in the scientific landscape, referring to the reluctance of a growing proportion of people to accept the vaccination offer. A variety of factors were identified as being associated with vaccine hesitancy but there was no universal algorithm and currently there aren’t any established metrics to assess either the presence or impact of vaccine hesitancy. The aim of this study was to systematically review the published questionnaires evaluating parental vaccine hesitancy, to highlight the differences among these surveys and offer a general overview on this matter. This study offers a deeper perspective on the available questionnaires, helping future researches to identify the most suitable one according to their own aim and study setting.

Factors associated with hindering the acceptance of HPV vaccination among caregivers - A cross-sectional study in Argentina

Background

The northeastern region of Argentina has the highest age-adjusted cervical cancer mortality rates. Given the strong link between HPV infections and cervical cancer, one of the main interventions is the population-based use of HPV vaccines. However, the acceptability is not very clear in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to estimate the level of HPV vaccine acceptance and associated determinants among caregivers of girls in a northeastern city of Argentina.

Methods

A school-based survey was conducted in 2015 using a multistage sampling method. The primary sample unit were schools stratified by socioeconomic status selected at random, and caregivers of school girls were interviewed. The acceptability was determined using the adapted Theory of Planned Behavior. We performed logistic regression models to assess associated determinants.

Results

The study included 347 caregivers. The intention to vaccinate was 59.88%. A positive attitude of caregivers (aOR 4.67; 3.11–7.03) and positive influence of social norms (aOR 1.95; 1.03–3.70) were the main predictors independently associated to the intention to vaccinate against HPV. In contrast, practicing a Christian non-Catholic religion decreased the intention to vaccinate against HPV (OR 0.59; 0.36–0.95). All other factors evaluated were not significantly associated with intention to vaccinate against HPV.

Conclusions

This study shows that evaluating attitudes, normative social beliefs, and perceived self-efficacy regarding HPV vaccination can be of utmost importance for mapping and planning of health-related strategies in developing countries.

The effect of educational intervention program on promoting preventive behaviors of urinary tract infection in girls: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Urinary tract infection is one of the most common infectious diseases in children, which can lead to serious complications for a child. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Theory Planned Behavior (TPB) -based education on the promotion of preventive behaviors of urinary tract infection in mothers with a daughter under age two.

Methods

The present study is an educational randomized controlled trial that its sample consisted of 100 mothers who had a daughter under age two. They were selected through convenience sampling and then were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups (each group included 50 participants). The data collection tool was a reliable and valid questionnaire based on TPB constructs. First, in both groups, the pre-test was administrated and then the educational intervention in the intervention group was conducted in the form of four educational sessions in 1 month (based on the pre-test need assessment) and then 3 months after the intervention (according to the ideas of Panel of Experts), post-test in both groups was administrated and then the data were analyzed through SPSS version 23 software with inferential statistics (independent t-test, paired t-test, and chi-square). The significance level was considered 0.05.

Results

Three months after the intervention, the mean score of the constructs of TPB in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group. The performance of prevention of urinary tract infection in the intervention group before the education increased from 2.85 ± 0.51 to 3.74 ± 0.29 (out of 4) (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

TPB-based education with active and interventional follow-up was effective in promoting the preventive behaviors of urinary tract infection. Therefore, due to the side effects of UTI, especially in vulnerable periods such as childhood, it is recommended that trainings based on this model be carried out in other health care centers in order to maintain children health.

Trial registration

This trial has been registered at IRCT, IRCT2017031533090N1. Registered on 9 July 2017, https://en.irct.ir/trial/25621