Parental willingness to vaccinate their children with the influenza vaccine in Guangzhou, China / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the factors influencing parents willingness to vaccinate their children against influenza in Guangzhou, and to provide a scientific basic for effectively improving the coverage rate of influenza vaccine in children.@*Methods@#According to economic level, one secondary school and one elementary school in each of the central administrative and peripheral districts of Guangzhou were selected by stratified cluster sampling. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 5 133 parents of the school students. Questionnaire content included the basic characteristics of children and their parents, and parents knowledge of influenza vaccination for children.@*Results@#A total of 14.57%(748/5 133) of parents were unwilling to have their children vaccinated against influenza. The results of the multivariate Logistic regression analysis found that, compared with parents aged ≤35 years old, parents aged 41-45 years and ≥46 years were 49% (adjusted OR=1.49, 95%CI =1.11-2.00) and 86% (adjusted OR= 1.86 , 95%CI =1.33-2.60), respectively, more likely to refuse vaccinating their children. Parents with an annual income ≥ 200 000 yuan were 52% more likely to be unwilling to vaccinate their children than those with annual income <100 000 yuan (adjusted OR=1.52, 95%CI =1.12-2.06). Parents living within a walking distance ≥30 minutes from the vaccination clinic were 52% more likely to be vaccinereluctant than those living within a walking distance of ≤10 minutes (adjusted OR=1.52, 95%CI = 1.16- 1.99). Compared with parents who regarded the vaccine as safe, parents who did not believe that it was safe or who were unsure of its safety were more likely to refuse vaccinating their children, with adjusted OR(95%CI ) of 12.75(9.44-17.23) and 3.37(2.73- 4.15 ), respectively( P <0.01).@*Conclusion@#Parents age, annual income, recognition of the safety of influenza vaccines, and walking distance to the vaccination clinic are associated with parents willingness to vaccinate children against influenza. Hospitals, communities and schools should cooperate to carry out vaccination and popular science propaganda, and arrange vaccination sites rationally to improve the coverage of influenza vaccines.