Background: Many parents are concerned about the efficacy, safety, and potential side effects of childhood vaccination, which lead to noticeable poor compliance. The study aimed to access the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of parents regarding childhood vaccinations in Saudi Arabia, 20182019.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in different regions of Saudi Arabia. We used electronic questionnaires that were distributed in primary health care (PHC). All variables were computerized and entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. The analysis results with a p-value of less than 0.05 were considered to be significant.
Results: The study included 609 parents around Saudi Arabia. Among the participants, 38% of the parents had excellent knowledge about childhood vaccination, 38% had good knowledge, 21% of the participants had average knowledge, and only 3% had poor knowledge. The main sources of information about vaccination were health centers and hospitals (50%) and social media (28%). Multiple factors were shown to influence the level
of knowledge regarding vaccination, including region (p-value = 0.001), city (p-value = 0.001), city type (p-value = 0.001), gender (p-value = 0.001), age group (p-value = 0.006), and opinion in vaccination (p-value = 0.001). Multiple factors were shown to influence the practice of vaccination, including gender (p-value = 0.001), area (p-value = 0.001), age group (p-value = 0.001), level of knowledge as perceived by self (p-value = 0.001), source of information (p-value = 0.043), and personal opinion on vaccination (p-value = 0.001).
Conclusion: The majority of Saudi parents had good knowledge about childhood immunization. The level of parents KAP regarding vaccination was associated with residence, gender, age, and personal opinion in vaccination.
Key words: Knowledge, attitude, practice, childhood immunization, parents, Saudi Arabia
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