title: Coverage and parental perceptions of influenza vaccination among parents of children aged 6 to 23 months in Hong Kong.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The impact of influenza on young children can be severe and even fatal. Influenza vaccination (IV) has been shown to be effective in reducing complications of influenza among children. This study investigated the prevalence and factors of IV among children aged 6-23 months in Hong Kong.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 401 Chinese parents of children aged 6-23 months were interviewed at local Maternal and Child Health Centers. Socio-demographic information, variables related to Health Belief Model, including perceptions about the child's chance of contracting influenza, perceived harm of influenza on children, perceived benefits and side-effects of IV, having received recommendations from health professionals to uptake IV, and IV behaviors of the children were measured. Multivariate analysis was used to examine factors associated with IV behaviors of children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 9% of the children had ever been vaccinated. Among those parents who had heard of IV (92.0%), substantial proportions perceived that IV could reduce the risk of influenza-induced complications (70.5%), hospitalization (70.5%) and death (65.9%). Relatively few of the participants believed that IV had no side effects (17.1%) and even less had been recommended by health care professionals to uptake IV (10.6%). Results from multivariate analysis showed that physician recommendations were associated with a higher likelihood for IV among younger children, whilst parental perceptions of the side effects of IV was associated with a lower likelihood for IV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of IV among children aged 6-23 months in Hong Kong was very low. Promotion of IV with the component of physician recommendations and parents' knowledge about IV safety for this group is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Behaviours Research, School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR. jlau@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Joseph T F
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Phoenix K H
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Yan Shan
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Hi Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: Kai Chow
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010290:Parents; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines