Parents' Attitudes About Childhood Vaccines Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on immunisation and vaccination attitudes worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the attitudes of parents towards childhood vaccines by questioning them separately about the periods before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This study included parents aged 18-49 years with a child below the age of 5 years who presented at family healthcare centres in a province of Türkiye. The study data form consisted of socio-demographic characteristics and the Parent Attitudes Toward Childhood Vaccines (PACV) scale. An increase in scale scores indicates a negative change in childhood vaccination attitude. Results: A total of 1038 parents participated in the study. The results showed that after the pandemic there was an increase in the total and all the subscale points, which was determined to be statistically significant for the total (p < 0.001) and safety-efficacy points (p < 0.001). Before the pandemic, statistically significantly higher PACV scale points were determined for rural dwellers, the safety-efficacy and total PACV points of females, behaviour and attitude points of those with an education level of primary school or lower, after the pandemic safety-efficacy points of females and those with primary school or lower level of education, and attitude, safety-efficacy, and total scores of those living in rural areas (p < 0.05 for all values). The pandemic was seen to have affected the relationship between education level, number of children, and behaviour subscale (p = 0.004 and p = 0.001, respectively). After the pandemic, there was a statistically significant increase in the mean PACV points of all parents (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on parents' attitudes towards childhood vaccines. Efforts should be made to overcome these negative effects to be able to prevent outbreaks of diseases that can be prevented by childhood vaccines.