Preferential differences in vaccination decision-making for oneself or one’s child in The Netherlands: a discrete choice experiment

BMC Public Health, vol. 20, pp. 828

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To optimize the focus of future public information campaigns in The Netherlands promoting the uptake of vaccines among adults and children, we quantified the contribution of several attributes to the vaccination decision. METHOD: We performed a discrete choice experiment (DCE) among Dutch adults including six attributes, i.e. vaccine effectiveness, vaccine-preventable burden of disease (specified in severity and frequency), accessibility of vaccination in terms of co-payment and prescription requirements, frequency of mild side-effects, population-level vaccination coverage and local vaccination coverage among family and friends. Participants answered the DCE from their own perspective ('oneself' group) or with regard to a vaccine decision for their youngest child ('child' group). The data was analysed by means of panel mixed logit models. RESULTS: We included 1547 adult participants (825 'oneself' and 722 'child'). Vaccine effectiveness was the most important attribute in the 'oneself' group, followed by burden of disease (relative importance (RI) 78%) and accessibility (RI 76%). In the 'child' group, burden of disease was most important, but tied closely with vaccine effectiveness (RI 97%). Of less importance was the risk of mild vaccine-related side-effects and both population and local vaccination coverage. Interestingly, participants were more willing to vaccinate when uptake among the population or family and friends was high, indicating that social influence and social norms plays a role. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccine effectiveness and disease severity are key attributes in vaccination decision-making for adults making a decision for themselves and for parents who decide for their children. Hence, public information campaigns for both adult and child vaccination should primarily focus on these two attributes. In addition, reinforcing social norms may be considered.

Authors 9

1. Joram Hoogink corresponding Aachen Department of Biomedical Data Sciences

   Leiden University · Leiden University Medical Center · National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. joram.hoogink@rivm.nl

   Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands. joram.hoogink@rivm.nl

   Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

2. Frederik Verelst

   University of Antwerp

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

3. Roselinde Kessels

   Maastricht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Data Analytics and Digitalization, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

4. Albert Jan van Hoek

   London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

   Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, England

5. Aura Timen

   National Institute for Public Health and the Environment · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Athena Institute, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

   Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

6. Lander Willem

   University of Antwerp

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

7. Philippe Beutels

   University of Antwerp

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

8. Jacco Wallinga Aachen Department of Biomedical Data Sciences

   Leiden University · Leiden University Medical Center · National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

   Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

9. G. Ardine de Wit corresponding

   Utrecht University · University Medical Center Utrecht · National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Healthcare, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. ardine.de.wit@rivm.nl

   Julius Centre Utrecht - University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. ardine.de.wit@rivm.nl

   Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Healthcare, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands