Table 2.
Vaccine perceptions scale scores and psychometric properties assessed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
| Scale | n | Mean [Median (IQR)]a | Items | Standardized factor loading | Chronbach's alpha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1: 1-factor CFA regrouping 6 items to measure receptivity to routine vaccines: χ2(df = 9) = 133, p < 0.01; RMSEA = 0.08 [0.07–0.09], p < 0.01; CFI = 0.97; and SRMR = 0.03 | |||||
| Acceptance of routine vaccines (16) | 2,393 | 4.5 [4.7 (4.2–5.0)] | I am completely confident that routine vaccines are safe | 0.70 | α = 0.78 |
| Routine vaccination is unnecessary because vaccine-preventable diseases are not common anymore | 0.61 | ||||
| When everyone else is vaccinated, I don't have to get vaccinated too | 0.67 | ||||
| People should be vaccinated to prevent the spread of disease in the community | 0.65 | ||||
| Everyday stress (such as competing priorities or many demands on my time) prevents me from getting vaccinated | 0.43 | ||||
| Vaccines are effective | 0.69 | ||||
| Model 2: 5-factor CFA regrouping the constructs of the Health Belief Modelb : χ2(df = 94) = 532, p < 0.01; RMSEA = 0.045 [0.04–0.05], p = 0.99; CFI = 0.97; and SRMR = 0.03 | |||||
| Value expert recommendations (15) | 2,393 | 4.6 [5.0 (4.3–5.0)] | I would get the COVID-19 vaccine if my healthcare provider recommends it | 0.93 | α = 0.74 |
| I would get the COVID-19 vaccine if public health experts recommend it | 0.84 | ||||
| I would get the COVID-19 vaccine if the government recommends it | 0.56 | ||||
| Perceived benefits of the vaccine | 2,391 | 4.1 [4.3 (3.0–5.0)] | Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine would: Protect me from getting COVID-19 | 0.88 | α = 0.79 |
| Protect my family from getting COVID-19 | 0.87 | ||||
| End the pandemic and make us return to normal life | 0.54 | ||||
| Perceived susceptibility to the virus | 2,393 | 3.7 [3.8 (3.3–4.3)] | I am at risk of getting COVID-19 | 0.73 | α = 0.72 |
| Someone in my family is at risk of getting COVID-19 | 0.77 | ||||
| I am at risk of severe complications from COVID-19 | 0.47 | ||||
| Someone in my family is at risk of getting really sick from COVID-19 | 0.58 | ||||
| Perceived severity of the virus | 2,393 | 4.6 [5.0 (4.3–5.0)] | COVID-19 is a serious disease | 0.90 | α = 0.85 |
| People can die if they get COVID-19 | 0.88 | ||||
| People who have mild symptoms for COVID-19, can still have long term health effects | 0.68 | ||||
| Perceived risk of the vaccine | 2,392 | 2.8 [2.7 (2.0–3.7)] | The following may prevent me from getting the vaccine: | ||
| It may have serious short term side effects | 0.81 | α = 0.87 | |||
| It may have long term effects that we are unaware of | 0.92 | ||||
| We do not know whether it will protect us for a long time | 0.77 | ||||
| Model 3: 2-factor CFA regrouping the constructs about trusting external informationc: χ2(df = 24) = 264, p < 0.01; RMSEA = 0.07 [0.06–0.07], p < 01; CFI = 0.98; and SRMR = 0.04 | |||||
| Mistrust of COVID-19 information (14, 17) | 2,360 | 2.1 [2.0 (1.3–2.7)] | Much of the information we receive about COVID-19 is wrong | 0.70 | α = 0.86 |
| I think health officials often hide the truth about COVID-19 | 0.89 | ||||
| Official government accounts of COVID-19 cannot be trusted | 0.90 | ||||
| Belief in conspiracies (14, 17) | 2,377 | 2.4 [2.4 (1.8–3.0)] | I believe the coronavirus was created in a laboratory according to plans unknown to the public | 0.54 | α = 0.82 |
| I believe there are groups interested in spreading panic about COVID-19 to achieve their own goals | 0.43 | ||||
| Many very important things happen in the world, which the public is never informed about | 0.65 | ||||
| Politicians usually do not tell us the true motives in their decisions | 0.73 | ||||
| Events which superficially seem to lack a connection are often the result of secret activities | 0.75 | ||||
| There are secret organizations that greatly influence political decisions | 0.74 | ||||
a
Scale scores are standardized from 1 to 5, representing low to high scores for each construct.
b
Correlations between the Health Belief Model latent variables were as follows: r = 0.08 (benefits & risk), 0.16 (benefits & severity),−0.24 (benefits & barriers), 0.37 (benefits & recommendation), 0.47 (risks & severity), −0.07 (risk & barriers), 0.17 (risk & recommendation), −0.18 (severity & barriers), 0.27 (severity & recommendation), −0.37 (barriers & recommendation).
c
Model 3 included a correlated error term among items within the Belief in Conspiracy measures include between items 3 & 4 (r = 0.43) and between items 5 & 6 (r = 0.44).
IQR, Interquartile Range.