Vaccine confidence among mothers of young children, Slovenia, 2016

We conducted the first nationwide survey in Slovenia to measure and characterise vaccine confidence among mothers of young children. This survey measured confidence in routine vaccines for children <2 years of age and in the information sources about these vaccinations to provide baseline data for public health actions to maintain and improve vaccination coverage.

We randomly selected women giving birth in 2014-15 from the national perinatal information system (N = 39,497). Participants were asked to rate statements measuring vaccine confidence, including confidence in their child's paediatrician, the Slovenian healthcare system, and different paediatric vaccination information sources. We estimated vaccine confidence with 95% confidence intervals (CI), for seven socio-demographic characteristics for mothers with young children. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to assess correlations between vaccine confidence and the confidence in the health system or child's paediatrician.

We sent out 3854 questionnaires, the response rate was 44.4%. While 46.8% (95% CI: 44.4-49.2%) mothers were confident in vaccines, 34.2% (95% CI: 32.0-36.6%) were undecided. We found a correlation (Spearman's rho = 0.457) between vaccine confidence and confidence in the child's paediatrician. Mothers that were confident in paediatrician were more likely to be confident in vaccines (odds ratio: 7.7; 95% CI: 5.3-11.3). Overall, the most frequently trusted information source were physicians (84.6%). In contrast, among mothers not at all confident in vaccines, 51.9% reported friends as the trusted information source.

More than half of mothers had low vaccine confidence or were undecided regarding their confidence. While vaccination coverage in Slovenia is high, these levels warrant public health intervention, particularly with the undecided mothers. Communication strategies should focus first on undecided parents and involve physicians, who for many are the most trusted vaccine information source. Different approaches will likely be required for those who are not at all confident in vaccines.