Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine, cilt.18, sa.5, ss.225-235, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: To examine the change in COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy according to descriptive characteristics, characteristics related to COVID-19, health literacy (HL) skills related to booster dose. Methods: The inclusion criterion was the completion of the primary scheme as two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The study was conducted in January 2022 by applying face-to-face interview technique. Questions regarding HL were used to question the ability of individuals to access, understand, interpret and use information regarding the COVID-19 booster dose in their decisions. Results: A total of 1 210 people were included in this study with an mean age of (41.3±16.6) years, and 51.4% were women. In multivariate analysis, hesitation increased in the 'moderately concerned' (aOR 2.65, 95% CI 1.09-6.45), 'slightly concerned' (aOR 3.1, 95% CI 1.26-7.19), 'not concerned at all' (aOR 5.69, 95% CI 2.27-14.28) groups compared to the group 'extremely concerned' about COVID-19 transmission. Those with Sinovac-CoronaVac as their most recent vaccine had increased hesitation compared to those with Pfizer-BioNTech (aOR 3.68, 95% CI 2.05-6.61). The effect of HL skills including 'accessing', 'understanding', and 'appraising' information on hesitation was not statistically significant (P>0.05). HL skill of 'applying' was assessed with ability of information to help decision making. Whether the information is helpful for decision-making, the risk of hesitancy increased for those who stated that it 'sometimes helps' (aOR 2.55; 95% CI 1.31-4.99) and 'never helps' (aOR 11.62; 95% CI 3.03-44.58) compared to those who stated that it 'always helps'. Conclusions: The increased propability of hesitation in those less concerned about COVID-19 transmission shows the importance of appropriately guiding individuals' concern levels with a health communication strategy based on risk communication. The fact that the only HL skill with a significant effect in the multivariate model was 'applying', shows the critical role of this skill in influencing behavioral changes.