Needle-related Fear versus Vaccination Fear, Vaccination Intention, and Declared Reasons for Avoiding Vaccination

El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la relación entre el miedo a la aguja (MA) y el miedo a la vacunación (MV), la intención de vacunarse (IV) y los motivos más comúnmente alegados para evitarlo (MEV). Se pretende ampliar la información sobre el tema en un contexto de pandemia. Justo antes de iniciar el plan de vacunación. Se aplicó una encuesta transversal a una muestra (N = 2,175) de ciudadanos españoles adultos (37.60 ± 12.98 años), de ambos sexos (mujeres: 67.3%). Se realizó análisis descriptivo, correlacional y de regresión. Para el MV la prevalencia fue de 5.1%, siendo factores de riesgo ser mujer, entre 20 y 40 años y sin dependientes a cargo. La relación entre MA y MV, IV y MEV (excepto la relacionada con la eficacia de la vacuna) era escasa aunque significativa. Esta relación fue positiva con el MA y los MEV y negativa con el MV. Se comentan los resultados y se recomienda actuar sobre el MA para reducir el MV y los MEV y aumentar la IV. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR]

The Long-COVID Experience Changed People's Vaccine Hesitancy but Not Their Vaccination Fear.

Starting in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible, worldwide, for millions of deaths and patients with long-COVID syndrome. In an attempt to stop the spread of the virus, the blanket administration of COVID-19 vaccines proved to be the most effective measure, yet the existence and availability of functional vaccines did not and, still, do not ensure the willingness and intent of people to be vaccinated. This study assessed the similarities and differences in vaccine fears and vaccine hesitancy through between clusters of subjects: people that were not infected with COVID-19, people that had COVID but did not develop long-lasting symptoms, and people that were infected with COVID and developed long-COVID syndrome. From the sample of 1111 Italian people, it was found that individuals who experienced mild symptoms showed higher vaccine hesitancy (confidence, complacency, and collective responsibility) than those who did not contract COVID-19. People affected by long-COVID showed a lower overall hesitancy than individuals who had COVID-19 without incurring long-lasting symptoms and, thus, essentially resembled people who had no experience of COVID-19 infection in terms of the vaccine hesitancy scores. Vaccine fear remained unchanged across all three of the examined clusters.

Italian version of the Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6): internal and external validation

Background: COVID-19 is one of the biggest threats in our current society in terms of mental and public health. Vaccination represents the most cost-efficient way to avoid disease, mental health negative outcomes, and an overload of the healthcare system, however, many people expressed fears and concerns related to COVID-19 vaccines. This paper presents the Italian validation of the Vaccination Fear Scale (VFS-6) originally developed in Spanish to complement clinical efforts in the prevention of vaccine hesitancy. Methods: The sample was composed of 1111 Italian participants (14.2% not vaccinated) recruited by means of on-line anonymous voluntary census. The items of the VFS-6 were firstly adapted to the Italian language by means of a translation and back-translation standard procedure, and subsequently administered together with convergent and divergent concurrent measures to ascertain their reliability and validity (i.e., internal and external) properties. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis has been carried out to validate the internal structure of the test and investigate its psychometric properties. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactorial model (cognitive and physical factors) also for the Italian version of the test, with very robust goodness of fit indicators, reliability, and internal consistency. Our data indicated that fear of vaccination is greater for females and highly correlated with vaccine anxiety and hesitancy. In particular, vaccine fear appeared strongly related to vaccination. Conclusion: The Italian version of the VFS-6 appears valid and reliable to assess the fear of vaccination among the Italian population, as well as to support the research for the design of public campaigns devoted to decreasing vaccine hesitancy.