title: Vaccination Confidence and Parental Refusal/Delay of Early Childhood Vaccines.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To support efforts to address parental hesitancy towards early childhood vaccination, we sought to validate the Vaccination Confidence Scale using data from a large, population-based sample of U.S. parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used weighted data from 9,354 parents who completed the 2011 National Immunization Survey. Parents reported on the immunization history of a 19- to 35-month-old child in their households. Healthcare providers then verified children's vaccination status for vaccines including measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), varicella, and seasonal flu. We used separate multivariable logistic regression models to assess associations between parents' mean scores on the 8-item Vaccination Confidence Scale and vaccine refusal, vaccine delay, and vaccination status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A substantial minority of parents reported a history of vaccine refusal (15%) or delay (27%). Vaccination confidence was negatively associated with refusal of any vaccine (odds ratio [OR] = 0.58, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54-0.63) as well as refusal of MMR, varicella, and flu vaccines specifically. Negative associations between vaccination confidence and measures of vaccine delay were more moderate, including delay of any vaccine (OR = 0.81, 95% CI, 0.76-0.86). Vaccination confidence was positively associated with having received vaccines, including MMR (OR = 1.53, 95% CI, 1.40-1.68), varicella (OR = 1.54, 95% CI, 1.42-1.66), and flu vaccines (OR = 1.32, 95% CI, 1.23-1.42).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vaccination confidence was consistently associated with early childhood vaccination behavior across multiple vaccine types. Our findings support expanding the application of the Vaccination Confidence Scale to measure vaccination beliefs among parents of young children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Melissa B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Gilkey
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.
authors.forename: Annie-Laurie
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: McRee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brooke E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Magnus
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.affiliation: Adult and Child Centered Outcomes Research and Dissemination Science (ACCORDS) Program, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado, United States of America.
authors.forename: Amanda F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dempsey
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Behavior and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Noel T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Brewer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine