Chinese parents' intention to vaccinate their 0-5-year-old children with the EV-71 vaccine against hand, foot, and mouth disease and willingness-to-pay

Lu Cheng; Sumei Zhong; Xiaonan Xu; Junrong Li; Fangqin Xie; Yulan Lin; Dongjuan Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1336687

Chinese parents' intention to vaccinate their 0-5-year-old children with the EV-71 vaccine against hand, foot, and mouth disease and willingness-to-pay

Front Public Health. 2024 Mar 7:12:1336687. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1336687. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Lu Cheng^#¹, Sumei Zhong^#², Xiaonan Xu^#¹, Junrong Li², Fangqin Xie², Yulan Lin¹, Dongjuan Zhang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
² Vaccine Clinical Trial Center, Fujian Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to determine the intention and willingness-to-pay (WTP) of Chinese parents/guardians to vaccinate their children with the EV-71 vaccine. Knowledge levels about hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and the EV-71 vaccine were also investigated.

Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered online survey was conducted between November 2022 and March 2023. A stratified multi-stage random sampling method was used to recruit parents/guardians of children aged 0-5 years in southeastern China.

Results: A total of 3,626 complete responses were received. The mean knowledge score of HFMD was 9.99 (±4.23) out of a total of 14 points. The majority of the participants reported a somewhat willing intent (58.8%), followed by an extremely willing intent (28.9%). Participants who did not consider the EV-71 vaccine expensive (OR = 2.94, 95%CI 2.45-3.53) perceived that the EV-71 vaccine is effective (OR = 2.73, 95%CI 1.52-4.90), and a high knowledge level of HFMD (OR = 1.90, 95%CI 1.57-2.29) had the highest significant odds of having an extremely willing intent to vaccinate their children with the EV-71 vaccine. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) of WTP for the EV-71 vaccine was CNY¥200/USD$28 (IQR CNY¥100-400/USD$14-56). The highest marginal WTP for the vaccine was mainly influenced by the perceived high cost of the vaccine. Those participants who did not consider the EV-71 vaccine expensive had more than 10 times higher odds of vaccinating their children (OR = 10.86, 95%CI 8.49-13.88). Perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers were also significant influencing factors in the highest marginal WTP.

Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the importance of improving health promotion and reducing the barriers to EV-71 vaccination. Therefore, it is important to improve health promotion and reduce the barriers to EV-71 vaccination.

Keywords: China; EV-71 vaccine; HFMD; children; willingness-to-pay.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child, Preschool
China
Cross-Sectional Studies
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease* / prevention & control
Humans
Intention
Parents
Vaccination
Viral Vaccines*

Substances

Viral Vaccines

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the Bridging Clinical Trial Project of Recombinant Hepatitis E Vaccine (Escherichia coli) with Mercury Removal Process Change (No.PRO-HE-011) and Fujian Provincial Health Technology Project (No. 2020CXA019).