Trust, distrust and skepticism: Parent’s perspective on COVID-19 prevention and vaccination in children aged 0-5 years

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to determine the attitudes of parents with children aged 0-5 years towards protecting their children from COVID-19, the rate of those who hesitated to have their children vaccinated, and the factors causing hesitation. Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, we conducted a survey with parents of children aged 0-5 years from July 2021 to May 2022. Results: Four hundred and sixty-four parents with children 0-5 years of age were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 34.6 ± 7.3 years and the mean number of children was 1.79 ± 0.78, the majority (72%) of which were mothers. The main source of information for COVID-19 was television channels for the participants (68.5%). Parents most often chose to wash their hands (91%) to prevent their children from contracting COVID-19. Fifty-seven percent of parents, especially those whose source of information for COVID-19 was social media platforms (OR 1.45 [1-2.1], p= 0.048), distrusted the measures they took to prevent their children from contracting COVID-19. Fifty-one percent of parents distrusted hospital measures to prevent transmission of COVID-19, and 55% were hesitant to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19. Increasing parental age (OR 1.02 [1.01-1.05], p= 0.040), having a family member who has had COVID-19 (OR 1.47 [1.01-2.16], p= 0.043), and parents’ trust in hospital COVID-19 measures (OR 2.04 [1.41-2.91], p= 0.001) have increased the desire to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Conclusion: Considering that vaccination is the most important step in preventing infection, information provided to parents by reliable authorities can help increase vaccination acceptance rates.