Does Health Literacy Affect Vaccine Hesitation?

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 19 Sayı: 1, 23 - 31

İlknur Göl , Serap Açıkgöz

https://doi.org/10.21763/tjfmpc.1474170

Öz

Background: Despite substantial and convincing evidence that vaccines save the lives of millions of children each year, vaccine hesitancy has become a growing focus of attention and concern. In 2019, the World Health Organization ranked vaccine hesitancy among threats to global health. This study was conducted to determine the effect of individuals' health literacy on vaccine hesitancy.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 365 adults in Turkey. Data were collected using a Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, the Health Literacy Scale, and the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale.
Results: The level of health literacy of the research group was good, and the level of their vaccine hesitancy was moderate. A significant negative correlation was found between health literacy and vaccine hesitancy (p≤0.05). It was determined that as the education level increased, the level of health literacy increased, and vaccine hesitancy decreased (p≤0.05). The vaccine hesitancy scores of those who had not received both adult and COVID-19 vaccines were higher than the scores of those who had (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: The study's findings showed a negative correlation between health literacy and vaccine hesitancy and that the level of education positively affected both variables. Conducting studies to increase health literacy to create social awareness about vaccine hesitancy or refusal can help reduce the increasing anti-vaccination movement.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Health Literacy, Vaccine, Vaccination, Vaccine Hesitancy

Sağlık okuryazarlığı aşı tereddütünü etkiler mi?

Öz

Giriş: Aşıların her yıl milyonlarca çocuğun hayatını kurtardığına dair sağlam ve ikna edici kanıtlara rağmen, aşı tereddüdü giderek artan bir ilgi ve endişe odağı haline gelmiştir. Dünya Sağlık Örgütü, 2019'da aşı tereddüdünü küresel sağlığa yönelik tehditler arasında sıralamıştır. Bu çalışma bireylerin sağlık okuryazarlığının aşı tereddüdüne etkisini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır.
Yöntem: Kesitsel tipte olan bu çalışma Türkiye'deki 365 yetişkin ile yürütülmüştür. Veri; Sosyodemografik Özellikler Formu, Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Ölçeği ve Aşı Tereddüdü Ölçeği kullanılarak toplanmıştır.
Bulgular: Araştırma grubunun sağlık okuryazarlığı düzeyi iyi, aşı tereddüdü düzeyi ise orta düzeydedir. Sağlık okuryazarlığı ile aşı tereddüdü arasında anlamlı negatif korelasyon bulunmuştur (p≤0,05). Eğitim düzeyi arttıkça sağlık okuryazarlığı düzeyinin de arttığı, aşı tereddüdünün azaldığı belirlenmiştir (p≤0,05). Hem yetişkin dönem aşılarını hem de COVID-19 aşısını yaptırmayanların aşı tereddüdü puanları yaptıranlara göre daha yüksek bulunmuştur (p≤0,05).
Sonuç: Araştırmanın bulguları, sağlık okuryazarlığı ile aşı tereddüdü arasında negatif bir ilişki olduğunu ve eğitim düzeyinin her iki değişkeni de olumlu yönde etkilediğini göstermiştir. Aşı tereddüdü veya reddi konusunda toplumsal farkındalık oluşturmak için sağlık okuryazarlığını artırmaya yönelik çalışmalar yapmak, artan aşı karşıtı hareketin azaltılmasına yardımcı olabilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sağlık okuryazarlığı, Aşı, Aşılama, Aşı Tereddütü

Etik Beyan

Ethical approval (Protocol Number: 2021/21) was obtained from the research and publication ethics committee of a university in Turkey to collect data. The first page of the questionnaire included a consent form, which also provided information about the purpose of the research. Only participants who checked the confirmation box of the consent form accessed the following pages and filled out the questionnaire. Necessary permissions were obtained from the authors of the scales used in the study.

Destekleyen Kurum

Financial Disclosure: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public,commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Kaynakça

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