Research Article

Parents’ Source of Vaccine Information and Impact on Vaccine Attitudes, Beliefs, and Nonmedical Exemptions

Table 4

Association of disease, vaccine, and trust constructs with Internet use as a source of vaccine information among parents of school aged children.

Diseases and vaccinesInternet used as a source of vaccine information Unadjusted OR (95% CI) Adjusted OR* (95% CI)
Yes ( )No ( )
Lowest quartile
(%)
Lowest quartile
(%)

Disease susceptibility108 (43.9%)196 (20.4%)3.05 (2.27–4.11)2.08 (1.49–2.90)
Disease severity90 (36.7%)227 (23.1%)1.93 (1.43–2.61)1.35 (0.97–1.87)
Vaccine protectiveness§100 (41.0%)203 (21.2%)2.58 (1.92–3.48)1.83 (1.32–2.53)
Vaccine 98 (41.0%)199 (21.2%)2.58 (1.91–3.48)1.66 (1.18–2.35)
Trust in healthcare103 (41.9%)348 (35.1%)1.34 (1.00–1.78)1.25 (0.93–1.68)
Trust in government73 (29.6%)236 (24.1%)1.32 (0.97–1.80)1.30 (0.94–1.79)

*Adjusted for exemption status.
How likely an unimmunized child in the United States is to acquire vaccine-preventable diseases on a 5-point Likert scale (impossible to very likely)—mean for 10 diseases.
How serious it would be if an 8-year-old child acquired vaccine-preventable diseases on a 5-point Likert scale (not at all serious to very serious)—mean for 10 diseases.
§How protective vaccines are on a 5-point Likert scale (not protective at all to very protective)—mean for 10 vaccines.
How safe children’s vaccines are on a 5-point Likert scale (very unsafe to very safe)—mean for 10 vaccines.
Counts presented represent the count of non-missing data, and the corresponding percentage is the percent of respondents in each Internet usage group with non-missing data that indicated that a given information source was a “Good or excellent source.” Missing data were not consistent over information source. Odds ratios are calculated based on non-missing results through unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression.