BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy remains a significant barrier to effective public health strategies aimed at overcoming the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases globally. This study aims to explore the roles of maternal knowledge, risk perception, health self-efficacy, and demographic characteristics in influencing the intention of antenatal mothers to accept childhood vaccination for their newborns.
METHODS: A descriptive and analytic cross sectional study design was conducted from March to September 2021, among antenatal mothers attending routine antenatal follow-ups at 17 public health clinics in Selangor, Malaysia. A validated and reliable self administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic characteristics, knowledge, risk perceptions, health self-efficacy, and vaccination intentions among antenatal mothers. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify determinants of vaccination intention among antenatal mothers.
RESULTS: The study included 796 antenatal mothers, predominantly Malay mothers (87.5%). The respondents presented a high mean vaccination intention score of 26.02 ± 2.77. Significant determinants of vaccination intention among antenatal mothers included the number of children (β = 0.156, 95% CI [0.013, 0.299], p = 0.032), knowledge score (β = 0.397, 95% CI [0.288, 0.506], p
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.