Abstract:

Aim: The research was conducted to determine the relationship of parents' health literacy level with their attitudes and behaviors towards childhood vaccines. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 279 parents with children in the age group of 0-12 months in the Central District of Kırıkkale province. Lot quality technique was used in the sampling. Written permission and ethics committee approval were obtained. The data were collected based on self-reporting using the Descriptive Questionnaire and the Turkish version of the European Health Literacy Scale. Descriptive statistical tests and Chi-Square were used in the analysis of the data. Results: The median age of the parents was 30 years (25-34), with 45.1% of the mothers and 47.4% of the fathers had a university and postgraduate education level. It was determined that the average health literacy score of parents was 30.57±8.30 and that the overall health literacy level of 62.8% was insufficient and problematic-limited. The difference between the average scale score and the state of being a parent and the longest living place was found statistically significant (p<0.05). It was found that 98.6% of parents had their children vaccinated. Conclusion: It was determined that parents' level of health literacy was not related to their attitudes and behaviors towards childhood vaccines.

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