Table 2.
Original published research about VL skills and association with determinants and outcomes, using different tools.
| First Author, Ref #, Year | Country Study population |
Subjects N, Gender, Mean age (y.rs) |
Study design, Methods, Execution period |
Tool Name |
Functional and Interactive-critical VL score |
Determinants (common determinants: age, gender, education, information sources) |
VL Outcomes |
Other variables and tools | Main findings and assessments, Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amit Aharon60 2017 | Israel, parents of children aged 3–4 y,s | 731, Completed vaccinations 422 Not-completed vaccinations 309 |
cross-sectional survey; 2012–2013 |
vaccine health literacy scale |
Completed vaccination Functional 1.92; ± 0.71 Communic. 2.92; ± 0.67 Critical 2.59 ± 0.86 Not Completed vaccination Functional 1.94 ± 0.77 Communic. 3.22 ± 0.59 Critical 3.06 ± 0.78 |
Number of children, religion, income | Vaccination attitudes, compliance with vaccination | Knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards vaccination |
Significant negative association between communicative HL and compliance with vaccinations (p < .05). Chi-square, ANOVA, and MANOVA |
| Arriaga61 2022 | Portugal, 16 y.s+ | 1247, M 604, F 643 Age 46 ± 16.7 |
Telephone or mobile phone survey, 2019–2020 |
HLS19-VAC (part of HLS 19-Q47), Digital HL, Navigational HL, VL (HL-VAC) |
HL-VAC: 8.8% excellent 62.4% sufficient 15.1% problematic 13.7% inadequate |
Economic capacity to pay for medical examinations, profession | HL and VL levels | - |
Significant correlations between general HL and digital HL (p<.001), navigational HL (p < .001), and VL (p < .001) Pearson’s correlation, CFA |
| Biasio62 2020 | Italy, general population aged 50–75 y.s | 200, M 66%, Mean age 63.25 |
Cross-sectional, face-to-face survey, April-May 2019 |
HLVa-IT Scale | Functional: 3.23 Interactive 2.92 Critical 2.86 |
Occupation,, vaccination status | Vaccine acceptance. vaccination knowledge | Vaccine quiz |
Face and construct validity, two latent factors identified (functional and interactive-critical) PCA |
| Cadeddu15 2022 | Italy, general population | 3550, F 51,9% (1815) Age 18–65+ balanced between classes |
Cross-sectional study, May 2021 |
Four items of the HLS19-Q47 to measure VL scale | VL levels | Migration background, financial deprivation, geographical area |
Explanation of VL levels | - |
Good VL level in 47.5% sufficient VL in 20.1% limited VL in 32.4% Frequent difficulties in dealing with vaccination information. Ordinal logistic regression |
| Fadda63 2022 | Italy, adolescents aged 14–18 y.s | 391, M 48%, F 52%, Mean age 16 |
Paper-and-pencil survey, August 2018 - January 2019 | Questions about opinions and behaviors regarding vaccination | Mean score: 6.51 ± 3.40 Range from 0 to 14 |
Types of school, parents’ and profession, siblings |
Explanation of VL and knowledge | Knowledge about vaccination: reply to 14 statements about vaccines |
Generally, poor vaccine knowledge Descriptive analysis |
| Lorini64 2022 | staff of Tuscany nursing homes, Italy |
1,794 858 analyzed for the aims of the study F 86.7% |
Cross-sectional survey conducted online in July–August 2020 | HLVa Scale | HLVa total mean score 3.19 ± 0.49 functional 3.17 ± 0.69 interact.-critical 3.21 ± 0.59 |
Mother language, profession | Sources of information on vaccines and vaccination | - |
Interactive-critical VL: positive predictor of the use of official vaccination campaigns and health professionals; negative predictor of the use of social media. Univariate logistic regression. |
| Meppelink65 2019 | Netherlands, September 2017 | 480 parents of 0–4 children 46% M, 54% F, Mean age 34 |
Cross-sectional, online survey | Vaccine health literacy scale (Aharon’s) |
Functional VL 3.08 ± 0.69 Interactive VL 2.58 ± 0.60 Critical VL 2.38 ± 0.82 |
Online seeking about vaccinations, children vaccinated, vaccination beliefs, Medical job background |
Perceptions of message convincingness about vaccines, credibility and usefulness | Newest Vital Sign |
Biased selection and biased perceptions of message convincingness more prevalent among people with higher HL and health communication PROCESS model analysis |
| Montagni66 2022 | France, adult population in the context of COVID-19 |
1,640, F 78.4%, Age: 18–34 84.5% 34+ 15.5% |
Online cohort study April-May 2020, according to STROBE checklist |
CONFINS questions: 77 items for HL, knowledge and beliefs about vaccines, digital VL |
Digital vaccine literacy: hesitant 21.7 ± 2.8 pro-vaccination 22.7 ± 2.4 |
Seasonal flu vaccination, marital status, having children, being a student, working in health domain, self-perceived health, medical history |
Define the hesitant population toward COVID-19 vaccines | - |
Hesitant persons: more frequently females (p = .044), not annually vaccinated against flu (p = .026), less optimistic about treatment against COVID-19 (p < .001), less ready to undergo treatment (p < .001). Univariate and multivariate analyses |
| Rosano15 2022 | Italy, 3500 men, and women aged 18 y,s and older | 3,500, of which: 2949: online survey 551: phone interview 1685 M, 1815 F |
Cross-sectional Study, From 8 April to 8 May 2021, a questionnaire including a 47-item section (HLS19-Q47) | HLS19-VAC (part of HLS 19) | Vaccination HL coronavirus-related HL |
Financial deprivation, geographic area, vaccine coverage | Define Vaccination HL levels | GEN-HL |
Excellent levels in 49%, limited in 30%. High overall HL-COVID level, difficulties dealing with COVID-19 info in elderly, those living in southern regions, and with high financial deprivation. Regression analysis |
| Suitner67 2022 | Italy, elderly |
600, 311 M 289 feM; Age 67.51 ± 1.46 |
Cross-sectional - phone interview | Questions about Pneumococcus and Pneumo vaccines | Majority aware of Pneumo vaccine availability | Region of residence | Vaccine knowledge | - |
Very low reported vaccination status (11.2%), Descriptive analysis |
| Sumile68 2020 |
Philippines, mothers | 200, Different age groups |
Cross-sectional survey | vaccine health literacy scale (Aharon’s) |
Functional: 3.14 ± 0.76 Communicative: 2.95 ± 0.87 Critical: 3.65 ± 0.74 |
- | Vaccine acceptability | - |
Mothers’ functional HL (p:0.006) and critical HL (p:0.000) significantly related to vaccine acceptability. Multiple linear regression |
| Turhan8 2021 |
Turkey, general population | 620, F 66.9%, Age: 35.06 ± 12.95 |
Cross-sectional, online survey December 2020 | COVID-19 VL: two questions about COVID-19 vaccine information access l |
COVID-19 VL score: 5.66 ± 2.76 |
Mask-wearing, hygienic rules | Healthcare system distrust, vaccine hesitancy | Health Care System Distrust Scale (HCSDS), Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) |
HL mediation role of the relationship between healthcare system distrust and vaccine hesitancy Structural Equation Model (SEM) a |
| Wang69 | China, parents | M 520 F 1344, Age: 32.2 ± 4.1 |
Cross-sectional, face to face survey April 2016 | Three questions about a vaccination scandal | - | Having a child between the 0 and 3 |
Trust and choose domestically produced vaccines | - |
Parents with better vaccine literacy (<0.05) more likely to trust and choose domestically produced vaccines Binary logistic regression |