OBJECTIVES To understand the reasons parents of young children would choose to vaccinate their child(ren) against rotavirus and the impact of vaccine features on vaccine choice and uptake.
METHODS Women with children 5 years of age or younger participated in focus groups to identify reasons they would choose to vaccinate their children against rotavirus independent of the clinical characteristics or cost of the vaccine. These women were then asked to identify the clinical vaccine features that would influence their decision to vaccinate their children. A survey instrument was developed to elicit the relative importance of the non-clinical reasons for vaccination. The survey also included a discrete-choice experiment (DCE) to elicit parents’ preferences for clinical characteristics of hypothetical vaccines and likely update of vaccines with different clinical features and cost. The survey instrument was used to refine the list of non-clinical features and the relevance of clinical attributes to vaccine choice and uptake in 15 face-to-face interviews.
RESULTS Study participants identified 7 non-clinical attributes influencing vaccination decisions – work disruptions, child-care disruptions, unplanned expenses, disruptions to routine, concern about child’s discomfort, concern about child’s health in the future, concern about spreading illness – and 6 clinical attributes influencing vaccine choice and uptake – number of illnesses prevented, severity of the illnesses prevented, duration of illnesses prevented by vaccine, location of vaccination (home or healthcare location), mode of administration (oral or injection), and age at which protection begins. Cost was also a relevant attribute in these decisions.
CONCLUSIONS Deciding to vaccinate a child against rotavirus is the result of a decision process that is influenced by both the impact of rotavirus on the family and the clinical characterics of the vaccine itself. The effect of non-clinical reasons on vaccination decisions likely will vary based on parents’ employment and the number of children in the household.
