Parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children with special health care needs: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Parents of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) usually hesitate to vaccinate their children, yet limited data on factors influencing parents' willingness to vaccinate their children are available. Our study aimed to reveal parents' willingness to immunize their children with the Expanded Programme on Immunization Vaccines and identify determinants influencing parents' willingness. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey using a stratified sampling approach in Wuxi, China. Description methods were used to describe guardians' willingness to vaccinate their children, and logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the influencing factors of parents' willingness. RESULTS: A total of 904 parents/guardians were collected; 864 (95.58%) were willing to immunize their children. Univariate analysis revealed that parents' knowledge of vaccines and their awareness of vaccination assessment clinics were factors that influenced vaccination willingness. The multivariate logistic regression results indicated that parental education level and awareness of vaccination assessment clinics were significant predictors of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children. CONCLUSION: Higher parental knowledge and use of vaccination consultation clinic services are associated with greater willingness to vaccinate among parents of children with special health care needs.