Summer activities for Junior Mathew Molina included research was on parental concerns about early childhood vaccinations.
The objective of this study, under the guidance of Dr. Anita Broxson, was to identify parental concerns of children less than seven years of age regarding early childhood vaccinations.
Mathew shared a little about his research:
Mathew explained, “An exploratory study was performed by creating an internet-based parental concerns survey using the website SurveyMonkey.com. Parents of children 0 to 6 years were eligible to complete the survey.”
The survey asked demographic questions, as well as whether parents delayed or refused vaccinations and questions pertaining to specific concerns. Parents were also given the option of writing any other comments regarding immunizations, in a space provided at the end of the survey. With a 91% (N=262) completion rate, 32.4% (n=85) delayed vaccinations and 23.3% (n=61) refused vaccinations their children.
Most parents receive information regarding vaccines from their doctor or nurse (94.3%). Most of the parents that delayed and parents that refused to vaccinate their children are concerned about the safety, amount of vaccines recommended and serious side effects of vaccines. Of the parents that delayed, 50.6% believe the influenza vaccine causes the flu and 45.9% believe the varicella vaccine causes chicken pox. Of the parents that refused 59.0% believe the influenza vaccine causes the flu and 54.1% believe the varicella vaccine causes chicken pox.
Major themes analyzed in the open-ended text were of parents concerned about vaccines causing autism and parents believing vaccines are under researched. A minor theme analyzed consisted of parents who were pro vaccinations. The majority of parents did not delay or refuse vaccinations, but more parents are becoming concerned. It is important for health professionals to educate parents who are concerned about the safety of vaccinations and how they work.
Congratulations, Mat!
Click on this link to see additional undergraduate research studies.