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AWARENESS OF PARENTS REGARDING CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS AND THE FACTORS OF NEGLECTING OR REFUSING VACCINATION IN EASTERN PROVINCE, KSA

Abdulkareem J. Al-Quwaidhi, Khalil Ibrahim Bograin, AHMED ALI ALWABARI, Zahra Ali Abdullah Alrebh, Ghadeer Ebrahim A. Jabbar Ahmed AlMohamed Ali, Zainab Ali Ghallab, Alya Hassan Mahdi Aljanbi, Mohammed Jassim Alnuwaysir, Fatemah Ahmed AlGharrash

Background: Parents' decisions concerning immunization are imperative for expanding the immunization rate and consistency and for diminishing any conceivable immunization blunders. Parents' learning and works on concerning immunization are the central points that add to their vaccination decisions. Objective: to clarify the awareness of parents in Eastern Province regarding childhood vaccinations and the factors that are responsible for neglecting and refusing vaccination including causes, believes and rumors of Eastern Province population. Methods: A cross-sectional community-based study conducted during the period from 1st October 2018 to 27th January 2019. A systematic random sampling technique was used. The study included 380 participants. Data collected using a pre-designed online questionnaire distributed among parents of children and adolescents. Data analyzed using the SPSS (version 15). The p-value of less than 0 .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of participants 79.3% agreed that immunization is very important, the most common sources of information was physicians in PHC center by 58%, followed by social media 22.6%, friends and relatives 16.8% and 2.6% for T.V and radio, 85.3% of parents think that immunizations decrease the child's morbidity and mortality, 90.4% think that immunizations decreases the infectious diseases and 94.3% think that immunizations keep the child health, 91.4 % of parents completed their child's immunizations schedule and 93.9% of them keen to complete all doses of vaccines if there was more than one. The majority 93.9% of parents think that immunizations have many side effects like fever and pain and only 28.5% think that immunizations may cause convulsions and skin rash, 63.9% of participants think that low-grade fever and diarrhea prevents vaccination. Conclusion: Perception and acceptance of childhood vaccinations, perceptions of vaccine-related health benefits are right among parents in Eastern Province, Eastern Saudi Arabia. Keywords: Children; Immunization; Parents; Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

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