The Determinants of Vaccine Literacy in the Italian Population

Results from the Health Literacy Survey 2019

Bibliographic Data

ID15460490
AuthorsChiara Cadeddu (0000-0003-0149-1078, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Luca Regazzi (0000-0002-0189-7687, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Guglielmo Bonaccorsi (0000-0002-5171-4308, University of Florence), Aldo Rosano (0000-0002-5453-2294, National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policy, 00198 Rome, Italy), Brigid Unim (0000-0002-6522-9098, Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Aging, Italian National Institute of Health, 00162 Rome, Italy), Robert Griebler (Gesundheit Österreich), Thomas Link (0000-0001-6653-5911, Gesundheit Österreich), Paola De Castro (0000-0001-8717-9418, Scientific Communication Unit, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy), Roberto D’Elia (Ministero della Salute), Valeria Mastrilli (Ministero della Salute), Luigi Palmieri (0000-0002-4908-5434, Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Aging, Italian National Institute of Health, 00162 Rome, Italy, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume19
Issue8
Pages4429-4429
Publication date2022-04-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph19084429
PMID35457297
OpenAlexW4224245328
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited34

Vaccines are among the most important public health achievements of the last century; however, vaccine awareness and uptake still face significant challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this phenomenon. Vaccine Literacy (VL) is the ability to find, understand and judge immunisation-related information to make appropriate immunisation decisions. A cross-sectional study on a sample of 3500 participants, representative of the Italian adult population aged 18+ years, was conducted in Italy in 2021. A validated questionnaire, including sections on health literacy (HL), sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors, and lifestyles of respondents, was used. VL was measured by four items (item 19, 22, 26 and 29) of the HL section. While 67.6% of the respondents had a "good" (47.5%) or "sufficient" (20.1%) level of VL, 32.4% had "limited" VL levels. Although the overall VL level was quite high, many participants reported difficulties in dealing with vaccination information, particularly those with a lower educational level, those living in southern and insular regions of Italy, those with greater financial deprivation and those with a migration background. Improving VL in Italy should be a top priority in the political agenda, with special regard to socially and geographically disadvantaged communities

Environmental health · Geography · Health care · Health literacy · Literacy · Pedagogy · Political science · Population · Sociology · Demography · Immune responses and vaccinations · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy

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