“It’s Like 1998 Again”: Why Parents Still Refuse and Delay Vaccines

Authors

Jiana L. Ugale, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
Heather Spielvogle, Seattle Children’s Research Institute
Christine Spina, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado
Cathryn Perreira, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital
Ben Katz, Seattle Children’s Research Institute
Barbara Pahud, University of Missouri-Kansas City
PhD Amanda F. Dempsey MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
Jeffrey D. Robinson PhD, Portland State UniversityFollow
Kathleen Garrett MA, University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
MPH Sean T. O’Leary MD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
MPH Douglas J. Opel MD, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

Sponsor

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health [R01HD093628; Opel and O’Leary (MPI)].

Published In

Global Pediatric Health

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-27-2021

Subjects

Anti-vaccination movement, Social media, Vaccination -- Public opinion, Medical policy, Health planning

Abstract

We conducted a qualitative study from 2018 to 2019 to update the reasons why US parents’ refuse or delay vaccines. Four focus groups and 4 semi-structured interviews involving 33 primary care pediatric providers were conducted in Washington and Colorado. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes related to reasons for parental refusal or delay. Five predominant themes were identified: (1) vaccine safety, (2) relative influence of information sources, decision-makers, and timing, (3) low perceived risk of contracting vaccine-preventable disease, (4) lack of trust, and (5) religious objection. Vaccine safety was the theme mentioned most frequently by providers (N = 45 times by 26 providers) and religious objection to vaccination was referred to the least (N = 6 times by 6 providers). Provider-reported reasons for parental refusal or delay of childhood vaccines in 2018 to 2019 remain similar to those reported in previous studies.

Rights

© The Author(s) 2021.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794X211042331

DOI

10.1177/2333794X211042331

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/36309

Citation Details

Ugale, J. L., Spielvogle, H., Spina, C., Perreira, C., Katz, B., Pahud, B., Dempsey, A. F., Robinson, J. D., Garrett, K., O’Leary, S. T., & Opel, D. J. (2021). “It’s Like 1998 Again”: Why Parents Still Refuse and Delay Vaccines. Global Pediatric Health, 8, 2333794X2110423. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333794x211042331