Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy Among Mothers of Children in Selected Rural Barangays
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31290/haj.v3i1.6151Keywords:
Vaccine hesitancy, children, rural communitiesAbstract
This study aimed to assess the level and determinants of vaccine hesitancy among mothers of children aged 0–5 years in selected rural barangays of Quezon. Using a quantitative descriptive–correlational design, the study examined relationships between vaccine hesitancy and socio-demographic, informational, and perceptual factors. A total of 102 mothers were recruited through stratified random sampling, and data were collected using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Findings indicated that 50% of respondents exhibited moderate vaccine hesitancy, while 27.5% had low hesitancy and 22.5% showed high hesitancy. The greatest concerns were related to vaccine safety and potential side effects, identifying safety apprehension as a primary driver of hesitancy. In contrast, strong trust in healthcare providers was associated with lower hesitancy, particularly regarding information sources. Chi-square analysis revealed significant associations between vaccine hesitancy and age group, educational attainment, and monthly income, with older mothers and those with lower education and income more likely to be hesitant. Furthermore, beliefs about vaccine effectiveness, concerns about side effects, trust in health workers, social media influence, and prior healthcare experiences were significantly related to hesitancy levels. These findings highlight the multifactorial nature of vaccine hesitancy and the need for targeted interventions to strengthen vaccine confidence in rural communities.
References
World Health Organization. Immunization agenda 2030: a global strategy to leave no one behind. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.
United Nations Children’s Fund. The state of the world’s children 2021: on my mind – promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health. New York: UNICEF; 2021.
Department of Health (Philippines). National immunization program manual of operations. Manila: Department of Health; 2016.
MacDonald NE; SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy: definition, scope and determinants. Vaccine. 2015;33(34):4161–4.
Larson HJ, Jarrett C, Eckersberger E, Smith DMD, Paterson P. Understanding vaccine hesitancy around vaccines and vaccination from a global perspective: a systematic review of published literature, 2007–2012. Vaccine. 2014;32(19):2150–9.
World Health Organization. Increasing vaccination coverage in rural and remote areas. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.
Dubé E, Vivion M, MacDonald NE. Vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal and the anti-vaccine movement: influence, impact and implications. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2015;14(1):99–117.
Brown KF, Kroll JS, Hudson MJ, Ramsay M, Green J, Long SJ, et al. Factors underlying parental decisions about combination childhood vaccinations including MMR: a systematic review. Vaccine. 2010;28(26):4235–48.
Restrepo-Méndez MC, Barros AJD, Wong KLM, Johnson HL, Pariyo G, França GVA, et al. Inequalities in full immunization coverage: trends in low- and middle-income countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2016;94(11):794–805.
Orenstein WA, Ahmed R. Simply put: vaccination saves lives. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2017;114(16):4031–3.
Stanhope M, Lancaster J. Public health nursing: population-centered health care in the community. 10th ed. St. Louis (MO): Elsevier; 2020.
Dubé, E., Laberge, C., Guay, M., Bramadat, P., Roy, R., & Bettinger, J. (2013). Vaccine hesitancy: An overview. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 9(8), 1763–1773. https://doi.org/10.4161/hv.24657
Larson, H. J., Jarrett, C., Schulz, W. S., Chaudhuri, M., Zhou, Y., Dube, E., … Wilson, R. (2014). Measuring vaccine hesitancy: The development of a survey tool. Vaccine, 33(34), 4165–4175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.04.037
Migriño, J. R., Gayados, B., Birol, K. R. J., De Jesus, L., Lopez, C. W., Mercado, W. C., … Tulagan, G. (2020). Factors affecting vaccine hesitancy among families with children aged 2 years old and younger in two urban communities in Manila, Philippines. Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal, 11(2), 20–26. https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2020.11.2.006
Ogalesco, R. J. A., Cagasan, E. G., Gabrillo, C. A., & Bales, M. C. (2020). Understanding vaccine hesitancy among mothers: The case of a community hit by a rubella outbreak. Annals of Tropical Research, 42(2), 1–13.
Omer, S. B., Yildirim, I., & Forman, H. P. (2019). Vaccine refusal, mandatory immunization, and the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(19), 1981–1988. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa0806477
Philippine Statistics Authority. (2020). Fertility and reproductive health statistics of the Philippines. PSA. https://psa.gov.ph
Smith, P. J., Kennedy, A. M., Wooten, K., Gust, D. A., & Pickering, L. K. (2017). Association between health care providers’ influence on parents who have concerns about vaccine safety and vaccination coverage. Pediatrics, 118(5), e1287–e1292. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-0923
Wilson, S. L., & Wiysonge, C. (2020). Social media and vaccine hesitancy. BMJ Global Health, 5(10), e004206. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004206
World Health Organization. (2014). Report of the SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. WHO.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 John Leones Damo, Angel Joy Acueza , Katherine Arellano
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
-fococlipping-standard.png)
