J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Nov;29(11):1528-1535. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.11.1528.

Public Acceptance and Willingness to Hepatitis A Vaccination in Children Aged 7-18 Years in Republic of Korea

• Kong KA
• Yoon SH
• Cho SJ
• Kim HW
• Kim KH

• KMID: 2069935
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.11.1528

Abstract

Hepatitis A can cause serious illness among adolescents and adults with low vaccination coverage. Even though hepatitis A vaccine is one of the strong candidates for Korean national immunization program, adolescents aged older than 12 yr would not benefit. Our purpose was to assess the willingness and analyze the correlates of Korean mothers for hepatitis A (HepA) vaccination to develop strategies for HepA vaccination. A national telephone survey on 800 mothers with children aged 7-18 yr was conducted with random-digit dialing method. Sixty-two percent and 92% of the mothers reported that they were willing to HepA vaccination at current cost and at half of the current cost, respectively. However, at current cost, only 79% wished to vaccinate their child in an epidemic and 32% wished to vaccinate promptly. Having two or more children, not having future plans to send the child overseas, and low family income were significantly associated with not willing to HepA vaccination. Low perception of the susceptibility for hepatitis A and perception of the current cost as barrier increased the odds of unwillingness to vaccination at current cost and to prompt vaccination. The mothers' willingness to HepA vaccination for the children aged 7-18 yr in Korea was not very high at current cost and associated socioeconomic status and health-belief. Targeted intervention or strategies are needed to increase the HepA vaccination rate among children in Korea.

Keyword

Hepatitis A; Vaccination; Willingness; Children; Adolescent

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Child
Demography
Female
Health Status
Health Surveys
Hepatitis A/economics/*prevention & control
Hepatitis A Vaccines/economics/*immunology
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Middle Aged
Mothers/psychology
Republic of Korea
Social Class
*Vaccination
Hepatitis A Vaccines

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