Evaluation and Comparison of the Attitudes of Mothers with Children Under One Year Referred to Urban Health Centers in Ardebil and Boukan toward Vaccination

Having a very sensitive and non-developed immune system, immunization seems to be the most effective and most economical means available for health promotion in children and infants. This study evaluated the attitudes of mothers towards the vaccination of children under one year. It measured two components of the health belief model (perceived susceptibility and perceived severity) in 2009. This cross-sectional study used cluster sampling to include 350 mothers with children under one year who referred to health centers in the cities of Ardebil and Boukan. For data collection a questionnaire consisting of 20 questions, divided into three parts of demographic information, perceived susceptibility, and perceived severity, was used. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data were performed in SPSS-17. The results showed that the mean age of mothers in the study was 26 years. 90% of mothers mentioned the vaccines as highly effective, and 7% believed that vaccinations were ineffective. Perception of mothers in connection with the sentence "My child is as sensitive against diseases as other children." was measured and the majority of mothers (58.3%) disagreed. Most mothers (70.9%) agreed that "Vaccines are more suitable for weaker children. A significant difference (P = 0.001) was also observed among mothers. Parental attitudes toward vaccination were favorable in general. But offering advice and information about the importance of vaccines is essential. More efforts should be done to educate parents about real and unreal contraindications.