TABLE 3.
Beliefs and barriers toward child immunizations between parents who are behind and those who are up-to-date in child immunizations
| Child immunization status
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beliefs and barriers | Behind, n=271 n (%) | Up-to-date, n=418 n (%) | P |
| Do you believe that your infant child is fully up-to-date with immunization coverage?, yes Beliefs about immunizations | 168/263 (63.9) | 388/406 (95.6) | 0.000 |
| Immunizations are no longer necessary because the diseases they protect against have been eliminated from society, true | 9/259 (3.5) | 8/404 (2.0) | 0.314 |
| Immunizations weaken the immune system, true | 38/243 (15.6) | 21/396 (5.3) | 0.000 |
| Natural medicines provide better and safer protection than immunizations, true | 47/235 (20.0) | 32/382 (8.4) | 0.000 |
| I believe my child will develop natural immunity if we do not immunize, true | 39/252 (15.5) | 31/388 (8.0) | 0.004 |
| I do not think you should immunize when a child has a minor illness like a cold, true | 183/251 (72.9) | 242/390 (62.1) | 0.005 |
| Immunizations are associated with serious known side effects, true | 112/250 (44.8) | 109/389 (28.0) | 0.000 |
| Immunizations are associated with serious unknown side effects, true | 78/242 (32.2) | 85/383 (22.2) | 0.007 |
| Barriers toward immunizations | |||
| I simply forget to immunize my child, yes | 91/261 (34.9) | 115/403 (28.5) | 0.087 |
| I do not have enough time in my busy day, yes | 36/262 (13.7) | 31/402 (7.7) | 0.017 |
| I do not have a location nearby, yes | 24/261 (9.2) | 15/403 (3.7) | 0.006 |
| I do not have access to transportation, yes | 28/262 (10.7) | 18/402 (4.5) | 0.003 |
| I have other children to attend to, yes | 62/261 (23.8) | 46/402 (11.4) | 0.000 |
| I would prefer another health care practitioner to perform my child’s immunization, yes | 34/260 (13.1) | 35/401 (8.7) | 0.090 |
| I fear for the safety of my child, yes | 70/262 (26.7) | 60/402 (14.9) | 0.000 |
| I do not like seeing my child in pain or crying, yes | 55/261 (21.1) | 82/401 (20.4) | 0.845 |
| I have cultural barriers that discourage immunization, yes | 11/259 (4.2) | 10/401 (2.5) | 0.257 |
| I do not trust the medical community, yes | 31/257 (12.1) | 22/401 (5.5) | 0.003 |
| I have concerns about immunizations that have not been addressed to my satisfaction, yes | 70/258 (27.1) | 64/401 (16.0) | 0.001 |
| I had a previous negative experience with immunizing my child, yes | 31/259 (12.0) | 22/401 (5.5) | 0.003 |