Page 52 - Preventing pertussis in early infancy - Visser

Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Abstract Introduction
Pertussis cocooning is one of the strategies aiming to prevent the potential harm of pertussis in infants by vaccinating (among others) their parents. Several countries adopted this strategy, but uptake is a problem. Determinants of parental uptake are important in the design of an effective vaccination programme. Therefore, this study aims to assess the intention of parents to accept a pertussis cocooning vaccination, and to explore its determinants .
Methods
A 98 item questionnaire was developed based on a theoretical framework, assessing parental intention to accept a pertussis cocooning vaccination and its personal and psychosocial determinants. In addition, beliefs underlying the attitude of parents towards pertussis cocooning vaccination were assessed. Both logistic and linear regression analysis were used to assess univariate and multivariate associations amongst study variables.
Results
Parents returned 282 questionnaires. A large majority of the parents (78%) reported a positive intention to accept a pertussis cocooning vaccination. Attitude (OR 6.6, p <.001), anticipated negative affect as a result of non-acceptance (OR 1.65, p <.001), anticipated negative affect as a result of acceptance (OR 0.55, p .040) and decisional uncertainty (OR 0.52, p .002) were significantly associated with intention. General vaccination beliefs (β 0.58, p <.001), moral norm (β 0.22, p <.001), perceived susceptibility of pertussis in children (β 0.10, p.004), and efficacy outcome expectations (β 0.15, p.011) were significant correlates of attitude towards pertussis cocooning vaccination.
Conclusion
The parental intention to accept a pertussis cocooning vaccination found in this study is rather high. Targeting the identified determinants of parental acceptance in a pertussis cocooning vaccination programme is crucial to secure that intention is translated into actual vaccination uptake.
Keywords
Parents; Whooping cough; Pertussis; Vaccination; Immunization; Beliefs, Behavioural change, Implementation science, Theory-based behavioural interventions.
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