Improving older adults' vaccination uptake: Are existing measures of vaccine hesitancy valid and reliable for older people?

Pandemic antecedents - Exploring predictivity and relationships between COVID-19 vaccine uptake and influenza, shingles, and HPV vaccination

BACKGROUND

A wealth of extant research focuses on identifying barriers to, and predictors of, COVID-19 vaccination. In addition to treating COVID-19 vaccination and related experiences as antecedents, this study analyzes the relationships between COVID-19 vaccination experiences and intent to receive the flu, shingles, and HPV vaccines.

METHOD

Analyses were performed on the responses from U.S. survey panel of 1,024 participants (n = 1,024), 530 (51.8 %) who received at least a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 494 (48.2 %) who had not. Descriptive and inferential statistics identify participant demographic characteristics, prior vaccination behavior, vaccination intentions, risk behavior assessment, vaccination attitudes and beliefs, and the predictivity of COVID-19 vaccination, when treated as an antecedent.

RESULTS

Receiving a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine interacted with receiving a past influenza vaccine, predicting the future intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine or booster. Vaccine hesitancy in parents is significantly related to vaccination behaviors for themselves and their children. Analyses also showed differences between the vaccinated group (VG) and the unvaccinated group (UVG) on hesitancy, beliefs, and attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine.

CONCLUSION

Experience with COVID-19 vaccination and the relationship of those experiences with other vaccinations provide useful insight on leveraging vaccine uptake. Healthcare professionals should improve the COVID-19 vaccination experience and use vaccination appointments to promote other vaccinations. Research should continue to compare vaccination experiences and how they may persuade or dissuade vaccination intent for other vaccinations.

Vaccine attitudes and acceptance among older adults in North Dakota: Understanding demographic characteristic variability

OBJECTIVES

Older adults face increased risks from infectious diseases which are often preventable with vaccines. The current study examines demographic variation in vaccine hesitancy among older adults in North Dakota.

METHODS

A mailed survey assessing age, gender, years of education, self-rated health, rurality, and political leaning as well as vaccine attitudes and vaccine acceptance was conducted with 739 older adults (65+), oversampled from rural counties.

RESULTS

Vaccine hesitant attitudes were significantly higher among rural and politically-conservative older adults; whereas, vaccine acceptance was significantly higher among older, healthier, and politically-liberal older adults. Vaccine attitudes were significantly associated with vaccine acceptance and mediated the association between political leaning and vaccine acceptance.

DISCUSSION

These findings highlight the demographic characteristics predictive of older adults' vaccine attitudes and acceptance. By better understanding the nuanced factors leading to hesitation to be vaccinated, practitioners can develop strategies to increase vaccination rates among this at-risk population.

[The Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the 5C Psychological Antecedents of Vaccination Scale]

PURPOSE

This study aimed to valuate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the 5C Psychological Antecedents of Vaccination (K-5C) scale.

METHODS

The English version of the 5C scale was translated into Korean, following the World Health Organization guidelines. Data were collected from 316 community-dwelling adults. Content validity was evaluated using the content validity index, while construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent validity was examined by assessing the correlation with vaccination attitude, and concurrent validity was evaluated by examining the association with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination status. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also evaluated.

RESULTS

Content validity results indicated an item-level content validity index ranging from .83 to 1, and scale-level content validity index, averaging method was .95. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the fit of the measurement model, comprising a five-factor structure with a 15-item questionnaire (RMSEA = .05, SRMR = .05, CFI = .97, TLI = .96). Convergent validity was acceptable with a significant correlation between each sub-scale of the 5C scale and vaccination attitude. In concurrent validity evaluation, confidence, constraints, and collective responsibility of the 5C scale were significant independent predictors of the current COVID-19 vaccination status. Cronbach's alpha for each subscale ranged from .78 to .88, and the intraclass correlation coefficient for each subscale ranged from .67 to .89.

CONCLUSION

The Korean version of the 5C scale is a valid and reliable tool to assess the psychological antecedents of vaccination among Korean adults.

Could Belief in Fake News Predict Vaccination Behavior in the Elderly?

Willingness to get a vaccine was important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies suggest that vaccine hesitation during the pandemic could have been related to truth discernment, belief in information, exposure to misinformation, attitudes to vaccines, and conspiracy beliefs. Previous studies were mostly with younger adults, and studies with older adults are lacking. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the trust or belief in fake online news (print news was not included), truth discernment, attitudes, and willingness to be vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic while controlling for some significant factors/variables that could affect vaccination in a sample of older adults. There were 504 pre-retirees and retirees participating in this study. Participants from Lithuania age ranged from 50 to 90 years old (M = 64.37, SD = 9.10), 58.3 percent were females. Results from several path models predicting the participants willingness to get a vaccine suggested that stronger conspiracy beliefs and skeptical attitudes toward vaccination would be related to lower willingness to get vaccinated. Participants who disbelieved in the headlines were already vaccinated. Therefore, it seems that discernment (the ability to distinguish which information is true and which is not) is not related to the willingness to vaccinate.