Parent attitudes toward immunizations and healthcare providers - The role of information

Background: Lack of information has been associated with patient anxiety or concern in a number of healthcare areas. Objectives: (1) Identify the proportion of parents who agreed, were neutral, and disagreed that they had access to enough information to make a decision about immunizing their child; (2) examine how parents who agreed and disagreed differed with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, and their attitudes about immunizations, their child's healthcare provider, immunization requirements/exemptions, and immunization policymakers; and (3) identify if differences exist in specific immunization concerns. Methods: A sample of parents with at least one child aged <= 6 years (n = 642) was analyzed using data from the HealthStyles survey conducted during July and August 2003. Odds ratios and the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test were used for analysis. Results: Response rate for HealthStyles was 69% (4035/5845). The largest proportion of parents agreed they had access to enough information (67%) compared to parents who were neutral (20%) or who disagreed (13%). Compared to parents who agreed, parents who disagreed were more likely to be less confident in the safety of childhood vaccines (odds ratio [OR] = 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.3-8.9), and to disagree that their child's main healthcare provider is easy to talk to (OR = 10.3, 95% CI = 3.7-28.1). There was a significant linear trend in the percentage of parents expressing immunization concerns among those who agreed, were neutral, and who disagreed they had access to enough information (p < 0.05; df = 1). Conclusions: While most parents agreed that they had access to enough immunization information, approximately a third did not. Perceived lack of information was associated with negative attitudes about immunizations and toward healthcare providers. Basic information about the benefits and risks of vaccines presented by a trusted provider could go a long way toward maintaining and/or improving confidence in the immunization process. (c) 2005 American journal of Preventive Medicine