Vaccination Behavior Among Children With Developmental Delay and Their Siblings: A Cross-Sectional Study From India

Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, parental concerns with respect to the association between vaccination and development of autism spectrum disorder persist. The objective of this study was to assess the vaccination uptake and its associated factors in siblings of children with developmental delay.

This cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2017 to February 2018. The families of children with developmental delay, according to evaluation by a psychiatrist per ICD-10 criteria, were recruited from 3 child development centers. The data were collected using a semistructured questionnaire.

189 families with children with developmental delay were recruited into the study. In total, these children had 114 typically developing elder siblings and 50 typically developing younger siblings. The proportions of overall complete vaccination among the children with developmental delay group and the younger sibling group were significantly lower than the older sibling group (P < .01). The proportions of MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) vaccination among the children with developmental delay group and the younger sibling group were significantly lower than the older sibling group (P < .001).

Findings from this study suggest that reduced vaccination uptake is a general trend in families of children with developmental delay. Such a significant decline in the vaccination rate in this group of children will make them vulnerable if outbreaks occur. Therefore, public health strategies targeted to improve vaccination rates in families of children with developmental delay are needed.