The Determinants of Vaccine Literacy in the Italian Population: Results from the Health Literacy Survey 2019

Chiara Cadeddu, Luca Regazzi, Guglielmo Bonaccorsi, Aldo Rosano, Brigid Unim, Robert Griebler, Thomas Link, Paola De Castro, Roberto D’Elia, Valeria Mastrilli and Luigi Palmieri
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Chiara Cadeddu: Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
Luca Regazzi: Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
Guglielmo Bonaccorsi: Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy
Aldo Rosano: National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policy, 00198 Rome, Italy
Brigid Unim: Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Aging, Italian National Institute of Health, 00162 Rome, Italy
Robert Griebler: Competence Centre Health Promotion and Health System, Austrian National Public Health Institute, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Thomas Link: Competence Centre Health Promotion and Health System, Austrian National Public Health Institute, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Paola De Castro: Scientific Communication Unit, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
Roberto D’Elia: Ministry of Health, Viale Giorgio Ribotta, 5, 00144 Rome, Italy
Valeria Mastrilli: Ministry of Health, Viale Giorgio Ribotta, 5, 00144 Rome, Italy
Luigi Palmieri: Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Aging, Italian National Institute of Health, 00162 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: health literacy; vaccination; health knowledge; attitudes; practice; health promotion; vaccination hesitancy; information-seeking behavior; surveys and questionnaires; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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