Original scientific paper
Parents’ attitudes toward childhood COVID-19 immunization in Croatia: a multicenter cross-sectional study
Mirta Šašić
; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia,
Kristian Bodulić
orcid.org/0000-0002-1212-3302
; Research Department, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Iva Hojsak
; Referral Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children’s Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mario Mašić
; Referral Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children’s Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivana Trivić
; Referral Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children’s Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Joško Markić
; Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Center Split, Split, Croatia
Marijan Batinić
; Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Center Split, Split, Croatia
Ines Bartulović
; Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Centre Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Anja Šurina
; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia,
Nina Krajcar
; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia,
Goran Tešović
; Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia,
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Aim To assess parents’ attitudes toward childhood COVID19 immunization in Croatia.
Methods In this multicenter cross-sectional study, we col
-
lected data from four tertiary care facilities in Zagreb, Split,
and Osijek between December 2021 and February 2022.
During the visit to the Pediatric Emergency Departments,
parents were asked to fill out a highly-structured question
-
naire about their attitudes toward COVID-19 immunization
in children.
Results The sample consisted of 872 respondents. A total
of 46.3% of respondents were hesitant about vaccinating
their child against COVID-19, 35.2% definitely did not in
-
tend to vaccinate their child, and 18.5% definitely intended
to vaccinate their child. Parents who were themselves vac
-
cinated against COVID-19 were more likely than unvacci
-
nated parents (29.2% and 3.2%,
P
<0.001) to vaccinate their
children. Parents agreeing with the epidemiological guide
-
lines were more inclined to vaccinate their children, as
were parents of older children and parents of children vac
-
cinated according to the national program schedule. Child
comorbidities and respondents’ history of COVID-19 were
not associated with childhood vaccination intention. Or
-
dinal logistic regression revealed that the most important
predictors for a positive parents’ attitude toward vaccinat
-
ing their child were parents’ vaccination status and regular
vaccination of their child according to the national immu
-
nization program schedule.
Conclusion Our results demonstrate Croatian parents’
mostly hesitant and negative attitudes toward childhood
COVID-19 immunization. Future vaccination campaigns
should target unvaccinated parents, parents with younger
children, and parents of children with chronic diseases.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
331260
URI
Publication date:
1.3.2023.
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