Understanding vaccine knowledge, attitudes, and decision-making through college student interviews

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to explore knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about vaccines required for college-entry and vaccine-related behaviors among college students. Participants: Thirty-three full-time undergraduate students, ≥ 18 years old, enrolled at public (2) and private (3) colleges and universities in metropolitan Philadelphia in fall 2016. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews, which were double-coded with 5,015 comments overall and 99.3% intercoder reliability (κ = 0.779) using NVivo 11 software. Results: Six key themes emerged: (1) low knowledge about vaccines and requirements; (2) mixed attitudes about required vs. recommended vaccines; (3) high trust in medical professionals; (4) low perceived risk for vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks; (5) substantial parental influence on students’ decision-making; and (6) low utilization of Student Health Services. Conclusions: This study revealed lack of knowledge about and low prioritization of vaccination despite overall positive attitudes towards vaccines. Prematriculation education of college students is critical to increasing vaccine knowledge and use.

Keywords:

• College health
• immunizations
• school-entry requirements
• student health services
• vaccines
• vaccine policy

Acknowledgments

We would like to thanks Charlotte Moser for her valuable contribution in the initial conceptualization of this study and manuscript review. We would also like to acknowledge the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for support of this project.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of USA and received approval from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.