Exploring Vaccination Sentiments: A Population-Centric Examination

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy has, for a considerable time, been a significant risk to global health. As an integral part of disease prevention, vaccines have become a public health matter which is often debated among the community in spite of proven scientific evidence of their efficiency. A questionnaire was designed to evaluate the perception and knowledge of a population and compare it with behavior in order to assess a demographic within a sample population of 245 individuals selected at random within the United States, Here, we aim to clarify the difference between vaccine opinion among the general public as compared to vaccination status. Chi-squared analysis was done with the categorical data showing a statistically significant result when comparing parents versus non-parents, and Asian/Asian Americans against other ethnicities. All other comparisons were statistically insignificant. When looking at participant responses, PCPs did not discuss vaccines at all with 32% of the sample. The need for PCPs to provide educational information to certain ethnicities may play an important role in public health.