The vaccine hesitancy scale: Psychometric properties and validation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Vaccine hesitancy poses a significant challenge to public health initiatives.
• The SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy developed the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) to measure this phenomenon.
• Psychometric evaluation of the VHS is crucial for its effective application in research and policy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To psychometrically evaluate the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) in a large sample of Canadian parents.
• To determine the underlying factor structure of the VHS.
• To assess the construct and criterion validity of the VHS.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 3779 Canadian parents.
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to analyze the VHS data.
• The study also examined correlations with vaccine attitudes, HPV vaccine decision-making stage, and vaccine refusal.

Main Results:

• Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure for the VHS: 'lack of confidence' and 'risks'.
• The VHS sub-scales showed significant correlations with vaccine attitudes and decision-making stages.
• The VHS sub-scales were significantly associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine refusal and refusal of other vaccines.

Conclusions:

• The VHS demonstrates construct and criterion validity for identifying vaccine-hesitant parents.
• The scale's two-factor structure ('lack of confidence' and 'risks') is supported.
• Recommendations include refining VHS items, particularly for the 'risks' component, and incorporating risk perception measures.