Attitudes and beliefs of parents about routine childhood vaccination in Greece

Figures & data

Table 1. Socio-demographic and occupational characteristics of the surveyed population (n = 1227)

	n	%
Gender
-Male	323	26.3
-Female	904	73.7
Age, mean
-<18 years	1	0.1
-18–25 years	208	17
-26–35 years	945	77
-36–50 years	73	5.9
Marital status
-Married/cohabitant	1052	85.7
-Non married/single	175	14.3
Number of children
−1 child	276	22.5
−2 children	680	55.4
−3+ children	271	22.1
Nationality
-Greek	1155	94.1
-Albanian Immigrant	7	0.6
-Syrian Immigrant	41	3.3
-Iraqi Immigrant	7	0.6
-Roma	17	1.4
Education
-Primary	85	6.9
-Secondary	459	37.4
-Higher	683	55.7
Employment status
-Employed	930	75.8
-Unemployed	297	24.2
Annual income
−0–10,000 Euros	340	27.7
−10,001–20,000 Euros	563	45.9
->20,000 Euros	324	26.4

Table 2. Sources of information about vaccination of study participants, knowledge about vaccine related side effects and vaccine uptake (n = 1227)

	n	%
Main information source on vaccinations
-Pediatrician
Strongly disagree	47	3.8
Disagree	14	1.1
Neutral	52	4.2
Agree	133	10.8
Strongly agree	981	80
-Health Visitor
Strongly disagree	839	68.4
Disagree	82	6.7
Neutral	140	11.4
Agree	89	7.3
Strongly agree	77	6.3
-Alternative Medicine Practitioner
Strongly disagree	989	80.6
Disagree	126	10.3
Neutral	66	5.4
Agree	20	1.6
Strongly agree	26	2.1
-Mass Media
Strongly disagree	737	60.1
Disagree	175	14.3
Neutral	164	13.4
Agree	113	9.2
Strongly agree	38	3.1
-Internet search engines use
Strongly disagree	365	29.7
Disagree	250	20.4
Neutral	261	21.3
Agree	215	17.5
Strongly agree	136	11.1
Reliability of online sources on vaccination issues
Strongly disagree	311	25.3
Disagree	423	34.5
Neutral	365	29.7
Agree	99	8.1
Strongly agree	29	2.4
Affected by sites’ negative reviews on vaccination issues
Strongly disagree	533	43.4
Disagree	363	29.6
Neutral	197	16.1
Agree	95	7.7
Strongly agree	39	3.2
Doubts about the information circulating on the internet that some vaccines cause autism
Not at all	441	35.9
A little	341	27.8
Neutral	253	20.6
Much	125	10.2
Very Much	67	5.5
Should unvaccinated children be able to attend school?
Yes	540	44
No	687	56
Have fully vaccinated their children
Yes	1038	84.6
No	189	15.4

Figure 1. Parental worries for immunization related problems

Figure 2. Parental beliefs with regards to whom benefits from vaccination

Table 3. Socio-demographic determinants of vaccine uptake

	Univariable Analysis		Multivariable Analysis^a
Variables	Crude OR (95% CI)	P-value	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	P-value
Parental gender (female)	0.945 (0.662–1.348)	.753
Parental age (>26 yrs old)	1.513 (1.095–2.091)	.012	1.455 (1.046–2.024)	.026
Marital status (married/cohabiting)	1.944 (1.319–2.866)	.001	1.859 (1.252–2.761)	.002
Number of children	0.948 (0.752–1.196)	.655
Nationality (Greek)	1.269 (1.116–1.443)	<.001	1.251 (1.097–1.426)	.001
Education (Higher)	1.466 (1.157–1.858)	.002	1.265 (0.988–1.621)	.062
Employed (yes)	1.350 (0.956–1.907)	.088
Annual income (higher)	0.983 (0.796–1.214)	.875

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval. ^aOnly variables significantly associated with vaccine uptake in univariable analysis (p < .05) were included in the multivariable models.