Reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of childhood vaccination in Türkiye.

Background: Although vaccines play a critical role in the control of infectious diseases and disease outbreaks, vaccination rates have been declining in recent years because of vaccine hesitancy or refusal.

Aims: We aimed to determine the rates and reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of vaccination for their children in Türkiye.

Method: A total of 1100 participants selected from 26 regions of Türkiye were involved in this cross-sectional study conducted between July 2020 and April 2021. Using a questionnaire, we collected data on the sociodemographic characteristics of parents, the status of vaccine hesitancy or refusal for their children, and reasons for the hesitancy or refusal. Using Excel and SPSS version 22.0, we analysed the data with chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and binomial logistic regression.

Results: Only 9.4% of the participants were male and 29.5% were aged 33-37 years. Just over 11% said they were worried about childhood vaccination, mainly because of the chemicals used in manufacturing the vaccines. The level of concern was greater among those who got information about vaccines from the internet, family members, friends, TV, radio, and newspapers. Those who used complementary health services were considerably more hesitant about vaccination than those who used mainstream services.

Conclusions: Parents in Türkiye have several reasons for hesitating or refusing to vaccinate their children, key among which are concerns about the chemical composition of the vaccines and their ability to trigger negative health conditions such as autism. This study used a large sample size across Türkiye, although there were differences by region, the findings would be useful in designing interventions to counter vaccine hesitancy or refusal in the country.