IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i8p4374-d539779.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among People with Epilepsy in Lithuania

Author

Listed:
  • Kristijonas Puteikis

    (Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania)

  • Rūta Mameniškienė

    (Center for Neurology, Vilnius University, 08661 Vilnius, Lithuania)

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to determine the willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and factors associated with vaccine hesitancy among people with epilepsy (PWE). In December 2020, we performed an online cross-sectional survey of PWE and their caregivers in Lithuania before the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to the public. The study sample consisted of 111 respondents (44 (39.6%) male, median age 25 years (range 1 to 70)). From 58 PWE who personally responded to the survey, 27 (46.6%) would be willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Among the 53 caregivers, 18 (34.0%) would accept the person they care for to be vaccinated. Willingness to be vaccinated was associated with receiving an influenza shot in 2020 (odds ratio (OR) = 9.17, 95% confidence interval (CI = 1.15–73.47), the beliefs that vaccines are generally safe (OR = 7.90, 95% CI = 2.43–25.74) and that they are the only convenient way to gain immunity (OR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.02–15.05). Respondents were hesitant to accept the COVID-19 vaccine if they thought it could cause the infection (OR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.04–0.49). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is frequent among PWE and their caregivers. It is probably related to erroneous beliefs about their safety and mechanism of action.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristijonas Puteikis & Rūta Mameniškienė, 2021. "Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among People with Epilepsy in Lithuania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-9, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4374-:d:539779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4374/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4374/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yulan Lin & Zhijian Hu & Qinjian Zhao & Haridah Alias & Mahmoud Danaee & Li Ping Wong, 2020. "Understanding COVID-19 vaccine demand and hesitancy: A nationwide online survey in China," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-22, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samar Abd ElHafeez & Iffat Elbarazi & Ramy Shaaban & Rony ElMakhzangy & Maged Ossama Aly & Amr Alnagar & Mohamed Yacoub & Haider M El Saeh & Nashwa Eltaweel & Sulafa T Alqutub & Ramy Mohamed Ghazy, 2021. "Arabic validation and cross-cultural adaptation of the 5C scale for assessment of COVID-19 vaccines psychological antecedents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(8), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Takeshi Yoda & Nagisa Iwasaki & Hironobu Katsuyama, 2023. "Willingness to Pay for COVID-19 Vaccines in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(22), pages 1-11, November.
    3. Abayomi Samuel Oyekale, 2021. "Willingness to Take COVID-19 Vaccines in Ethiopia: An Instrumental Variable Probit Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Griffin, Bethany & Conner, Mark & Norman, Paul, 2022. "Applying an extended protection motivation theory to predict Covid-19 vaccination intentions and uptake in 50–64 year olds in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    5. Gabin F. Morillon & Thomas G. Poder, 2022. "Public Preferences for a COVID-19 Vaccination Program in Quebec: A Discrete Choice Experiment," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 341-354, March.
    6. Chiara Achangwa & Tae-Jun Lee & Moo-Sik Lee, 2021. "Acceptance of the COVID-19 Vaccine by Foreigners in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-12, November.
    7. Rubeena Zakar & Ain ul Momina & Ruhma Shahzad & Sara Shahzad & Mahwish Hayee & Muhammad Zakria Zakar & Florian Fischer, 2022. "COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance in the Context of the Health Belief Model: Comparative Cross-Sectional Study in Punjab, Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Ravichandran Moorthy & Sarjit S. Gill & Sivapalan Selvadurai & Angelina Gurunathan, 2022. "Vaccine Justice and Bioethical Reflections of COVID-19 Immunization in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-15, October.
    9. Alessandro Sapienza & Rino Falcone, 2022. "The Role of Trust in COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: Considerations from a Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Davaalkham Dambadarjaa & Gan-Erdene Altankhuyag & Unurtesteg Chandaga & Ser-Od Khuyag & Bilegt Batkhorol & Nansalmaa Khaidav & Oyunbileg Dulamsuren & Nadmidtseren Gombodorj & Avirmed Dorjsuren & Prami, 2021. "Factors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Mongolia: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Antonio Rosa de Sousa Neto & Ana Raquel Batista de Carvalho & Márcia Daiane Ferreira da Silva & Marly Marques Rêgo Neta & Inara Viviane de Oliveira Sena & Rosângela Nunes Almeida & Francidalma Soares , 2023. "Bibliometric Analysis of Global Scientific Production on COVID-19 and Vaccines," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Aloyce R. Kaliba & Donald R. Andrews, 2023. "The Impact of Meso-Level Factors on SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Early Hesitancy in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-27, July.
    13. Weixin Zhang & Xin Shen & Ting Li & Nan Li & Yanyan Sun & Siyu Zhu & Nana Liu & Huifang Song & Kun Tang & Yujia Wang & Ying Zhang & Hui Cao & Yibo Wu & Yong Gan & Xinyao Zhang, 2022. "Intention to Pay for Vaccination and Influencing Factors of General Residents: A National Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-9, September.
    14. Chiang, Chun-Fang & Kuo, Jason & Liu, Jin-Tan, 2022. "Cueing quality: Unpacking country-of-origin effects on intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19 in Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    15. Meng Wang & Mengying Li & Xinghui Li & Xiaoli Chen & Feng Jiang & Kezhong A & Zhiguo Wang & Liping Zhang & Yihan Lu & Wenjia Peng & Weibing Wang & Chaowei Fu & Ying Wang, 2022. "Intention and Attitude to Accept a Pertussis Cocooning Vaccination among Chinese Children’s Guardians: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Phi-Hung Nguyen & Jung-Fa Tsai & Ming-Hua Lin & Yi-Chung Hu, 2021. "A Hybrid Model with Spherical Fuzzy-AHP, PLS-SEM and ANN to Predict Vaccination Intention against COVID-19," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(23), pages 1-26, November.
    17. Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Jiang, Peng & Fan, Yee Van & Bokhari, Awais & Wang, Xue-Chao, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemics Stage II – Energy and environmental impacts of vaccination," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    18. Jumana Alibrahim & Abdelmoneim Awad, 2021. "COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among the Public in Kuwait: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-21, August.
    19. Talia Goren & Dana R. Vashdi & Itai Beeri, 2022. "Count on trust: the indirect effect of trust in government on policy compliance with health behavior instructions," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(4), pages 593-630, December.
    20. Grace M. Turner & Neil Heron & Jennifer Crow & Eirini Kontou & Sally Hughes, 2022. "Stroke and TIA Survivors’ Perceptions of the COVID-19 Vaccine and Influences on Its Uptake: Cross Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-16, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4374-:d:539779. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.