Attitudes, hesitancy, concerns, and inconsistencies regarding vaccines reported by parents of preschool children

Vaccination Hesitancy and Its Impact on Immunization Coverage in Pediatrics: A Systematic Review

One significant global health issue that is present in more than 190 nations globally is routine vaccination reluctance. This study aimed to synthesize the current evidence on vaccination hesitancy and its impact on immunization coverage in pediatrics. We searched for relevant studies across four databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed/EMBASE, and Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to extract relevant studies while excluding irrelevant ones. We found 4,085 studies on four different databases in which 23 satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These 23 relevant studies involving 29,131 parents, guardians, and caregivers from over 30 countries met the inclusion criteria and quality assessment. Studies were assessed for risk bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Vaccination hesitancy is caused by several factors, such as cultural customs, economic reforms, perceived rumors, myths, misconceptions, physicians and other healthcare professionals, and perceived risks and problems of vaccines. These results highlight the importance of addressing demand-side factors related to socioeconomic determinants and supply-side issues such as improving health literacy, combating misinformation, ensuring clarity in communication, and promoting a consistent, evidence-based message. More observations and research should be conducted regularly to develop strategies for encouraging youngsters to receive immunizations in large quantities.

Prevalence of caregiver hesitancy for vaccinations in children and its associated factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This review aimed to systematically compare and pool the prevalence of all the known evidence on caregiver hesitancy and to describe the factors influencing vaccine hesitancy among caregiver worldwide such as COVID-19, MMR, Influenza, HPV and others. We searched article from few electronic databases (PubMed, CENTRAL, ProQuest, and Web of Science) from inception to August 2023 using specific keywords for example caregiver, parents, prevalence, factor, hesitancy, and others. We included population-based studies that reported the prevalence of caregiver hesitancy. We used random-effects meta-analyses for pool prevalence estimates of caregiver hesitancy. A total of 765 studies met our inclusion criteria, containing data on 38,210,589 caregivers from seven regions across the globe. Overall or pool prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among caregiver is 25.0% (95% CI: 0.22-0.27, I2 = 99.91%, p = 0.001). Based on the evidence gathered, vaccine hesitancy was found to be religious sentiments, personal beliefs, perceived safety concerns, and a desire for more information from healthcare providers, along with factors related to availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability of vaccinations. Vaccine safety and efficiency have been identified as the main factor for caregiver vaccine hesitancy globally with a prevalence of 91.4%. Trial registration PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022331629. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022331629.

Worldwide Child Routine Vaccination Hesitancy Rate among Parents of Children Aged 0-6 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional Studies

Routine vaccine hesitancy is a major global health challenge observed in over 190 countries worldwide. This meta-analysis aims to determine the worldwide prevalence of routine vaccination hesitancy among parents of children aged 0-6. An extensive search was conducted in four scientific databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Studies were included if they reported hesitancy related to WHO-recommended routine immunizations for children under 7 years of age. A single-arm meta-analysis was performed using the OpenMeta[Analyst] software. An initial search retrieved 5121 articles, of which only 23 publications, involving 29,131 parents, guardians, and caregivers from over 30 countries met the inclusion criteria and quality assessment. The cumulative prevalence of parental vaccine hesitancy was found to be 21.1% (95% CI = 17.5-24.7%, I2 = 98.86%, p < 0.001). When stratifying the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy per WHO region, significant variations were observed, ranging from 13.3% (95% CI = 6.7-19.9%, I2 = 97.72%, p < 0.001) in the Region of the Americas to 27.9% (95% CI = 24.3-31.4%) in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The study findings highlight the need for healthcare providers and governments to develop and improve comprehensive programs with communication strategies to reduce parental vaccine hesitancy.