Adaptation of the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale to Turkish: Validity and Reliability Study

Kübra Temel Aslan, Cigdem Apaydin Kaya, Pınar Ay

Keywords: vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal, vaccine, immunization, scale validation, scale adaptation

Background:

A standard, valid measurement tool that assesses vaccine hesitancy will help develop research and immunization policies and identify individuals with vaccine hesitancy and overcome hesitations. The aim of this study is to adapt a Turkish translation of Vaccine Hesitancy Scale formed by the WHO SAGE Vaccine Hesitancy Working Group.

Research questions:

Is the Vaccine Hesitation Scale a valid and reliable scale in Turkish society?

Method:

This is a reliability and validity study. The study was carried out with parents of 0-18 months old children who applied to a Training Family Health Center in Istanbul. After translated Likert-type Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (answers from 1 to 5, high scores indicate low vaccine hesitation) in to Turkish, a test-retest method and Cronbach alpha coefficient were used for reliability research then exploratory factor analysis was used for construct validity.

Results:

No statistical difference was found between test-retest scores of the scale (43.55±4.5; 43.70±4.4; r=0.97; p<0.001). Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.73. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, two factors emerged: "lack of confidence" and "risk perception". The mothers were more hesitant than the fathers (p=0.005), non-working mothers were more hesitant than working mothers (p=0.026). Those with high income were less hesitant than those with low income (p=0.002). The fathers between the ages of 30-39 years were more hesitant than the fathers between the ages of 18-29 years (p=0.019).

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that the Turkish version of the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale is a reliable and valid scale. The VHS can be used in Turkish parents to assess vaccine hesitancy.

Points for discussion:

#91