Factors Affecting the Vaccination Choices of Pregnant Women for Their Children: a Systematic Review of the Literature

Overview

Journal Hum Vaccin Immunother

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2020 Jan 10

PMID 31916903

Citations 25

Authors

Annalisa Rosso

Azzurra Massimi

Erica Pitini

Angelo Nardi

Valentina Baccolini

Carolina Marzuillo

Corrado De Vito

Paolo Villari

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In recent years, an increase in vaccine hesitancy has led to a decrease in vaccination coverage in several countries. We conducted a systematic review of studies that assessed knowledge of and attitudes toward pediatric vaccinations, and the vaccination choices and their determinants among pregnant women. A total of 6,277 records were retrieved, and 16 full texts were included in the narrative synthesis. The published literature on the topic shows that, overall, pregnant women believe that vaccines are important for the protection of their children and the community, but various concerns and misunderstandings persist around vaccine safety and efficacy, which reduce the trust of expectant mothers in immunization. Nevertheless, such attitudes and choices vary depending on the vaccine being considered and the corresponding determinants should therefore be studied in the context of each specific vaccination. Further research on this topic is needed, particularly in non-western countries.

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