Abstract:

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of parents who have children 48 months and younger towards childhood vaccinations. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 158 parents living in Kırklareli, with children aged 18 years and older, 48 months and younger. The data were collected with the Descriptive Information Form prepared by the researchers and the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines Scale. Results: 84.2% of the participants with a mean age of 31.81±5.07 were women. 97.5% of the participants know that the vaccine is necessary, 73.4% know that a child with a fever above 38 degrees will not be vaccinated, 77.2% of them know that vaccines have side effects. 94.3% of the parents reported that the agenda they heard about anti-vaccination or hesitation did not affect them. 98.1% of the research group declared that their last child was vaccinated on time. When examined for each vaccine according to the National Vaccination Calendar; 78.3-98.7% of the research group stated that their last child was vaccinated on time, and 0.7-8.0% stated that they had their last child vaccinated even if it was delayed. The rates of those who do not have their vaccinations are between 1.3-19.6%. Those who think that vaccines are necessary and those who are not affected by the agenda about vaccine opposition or hesitation (p<0.01) have low mean rank in total and all sub-dimensions of Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines scale. While the mean rank in the behavior sub-dimension of those younger than 35 years old was low (p=0.018), the mean rank was found high in the Safety & Effectiveness sub-dimension. Behavior (p=0.001) and general attitude (p=0.039) mean rank of parents who had a total of 3 children were found to be high. Total (p=0.006) and general attitude (p=0.001) mean rank of those who knew the newborn vaccination time correctly were found to be low. Conclusion: It has been found that parents who think that vaccines are necessary and who are not affected by the agenda about vaccine opposition or vaccine hesitancy have a positive attitude toward childhood vaccines.

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