Parental information-seeking behaviour in childhood vaccinations

BMC Public Health

Hester E de Melker¹  Gerjo Kok²  Robert AC Ruiter²  Liesbeth Mollema¹  Gemma G Doorman³  Irene A Harmsen² 

[1] National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control, P.O. Box 1 3720, BA, Bilthoven, the Netherlands;Department of Work & Social Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands;Department of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

关键词: Vaccination;    Health communication;    Reasoned action approach;    Internet;    Information need;    Information seeking;   

Others  :  1161405
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-1219

 received in 2013-09-17, accepted in 2013-12-16,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

People want to be well informed and ask for more information regarding their health. The public can use different sources (i.e. the Internet, health care providers, friends, family, television, radio, and newspapers) to access information about their health. Insight into the types and sources of vaccine related information that parents use, and reasons why they seek extra information is needed to improve the existing information supply about childhood vaccinations.

Methods

Dutch parents with one or more children aged 0–4 years received an online questionnaire (N = 4000) measuring psychosocial determinants of information-seeking behaviour and self-reports of types and sources of vaccine information searched for (response rate 14.8%). We also tested two invitation approaches (i.e., reply card versus Internet link in invitation letter) to observe the difference in response rate.

Results

Almost half of the parents (45.8%) searched for extra information. Of all the respondents, 13% indicated they had missed some information, particularly about side effects of vaccines (25%). Intention to search for vaccination information was influenced by positive attitude and perceived social norm towards information-seeking behaviour. There was no difference in the response rate between the two invitation approaches.

Conclusions

The information provided by the National Immunization Programme (NIP) might be sufficient for most parents. However, some parents mentioned that they did not receive enough information about side effects of vaccinations, which was also the topic most searched for by parents. Public Health Institutes (PHIs) and child healthcare workers should therefore be aware of the importance to mention this aspect in their communication (materials) towards parents. The PHIs must ensure that their website is easy to find with different search strategies. Since the child healthcare worker is perceived as the most reliable information source, they should be aware of their role in educating parents about the NIP.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Harmsen et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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