Abstract:

Aims: The purpose of this study was to reveal the opinions, knowledge, and attitudes of parents in Konya, who refuse vaccination, concerning vaccine refusal. Methods: The study has a cross-sectional design. The research data were collected in 2019 using a survey form developed by the researchers. The survey form was filled out by the parents of children in the 0-4 age group who had not been vaccinated in Konya and its districts in 2017. We were able to reach 801 out of 923 children who had not been vaccinated and still living in Konya. The parents of 590 children (73.7%) who agreed to participate in the study were interviewed. Results: The most commonly refused type of vaccination was hepatitis A, whereas the least was hepatitis B. The most common reasons for vaccine refusal were believing that vaccines were not safe (63.9%), not believing that vaccines were useful and necessary (57.6%), and not trusting vaccines because they were produced overseas (47.3%). While 65.9% of the families reported that a family health worker tried to convince them to have their children vaccinated, 32.4% reported that a family physician tried to convince them. 48.8% of the parents believed that vaccines caused autism. 70.0% of the parents named their family physician as their source of information, 65.4% named internet/social media. Conclusions: The families had difficulty with trusting health workers and disregarded the information provided by health workers. Additionally, it was found that gynecologists did not sufficiently inform pregnant women regarding vaccination during the follow-up process.

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