Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://oxfordhealth-nhs.archive.knowledgearc.net/handle/123456789/881
Title: Injection fears and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Authors: Freeman, Daniel
Lambe, Sinead
Waite, Felicity
Rosebrock, Laina
Petit, Ariane
Keywords: Vaccine Hesitancy
Issue Date: Jun-2021
Citation: Daniel Freeman Sinéad Lambe , Ly-Mee Yu , Jason Freeman , Andrew Chadwick , Cristian Vaccari , Felicity Waite , Laina Rosebrock , Ariane Petit , Samantha Vanderslott , Stephan Lewandowsky , Michael Larkin , Stefania Innocenti , Helen McShane , Andrew J. Pollard and Bao Sheng Loe. Injection fears and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. 2021. Psychological Medicine, 1-11.
Abstract: When vaccination depends on injection, it is plausible that the blood-injection-injury cluster of fears may contribute to hesitancy. Our primary aim was to estimate in the UK adult population the proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy explained by blood-injection-injury fears. Methods In total, 15 014 UK adults, quota sampled to match the population for age, gender, ethnicity, income and region, took part (19 January–5 February 2021) in a non-probability online survey. The Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Scale assessed intent to be vaccinated. Two scales (Specific Phobia Scale-blood-injection-injury phobia and Medical Fear Survey–injections and blood subscale) assessed blood-injection-injury fears. Four items from these scales were used to create a factor score specifically for injection fears. Results In total, 3927 (26.2%) screened positive for blood-injection-injury phobia. Individuals screening positive (22.0%) were more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy compared to individuals screening negative (11.5%), odds ratio = 2.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.97–2.40, p < 0.001. The population attributable fraction (PAF) indicated that if blood-injection-injury phobia were absent then this may prevent 11.5% of all instances of vaccine hesitancy, AF = 0.11; 95% CI 0.09–0.14, p < 0.001. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was associated with higher scores on the Specific Phobia Scale, r = 0.22, p < 0.001, Medical Fear Survey, r = 0.23, p = <0.001 and injection fears, r = 0.25, p < 0.001. Injection fears were higher in youth and in Black and Asian ethnic groups, and explained a small degree of why vaccine hesitancy is higher in these groups. Conclusions Across the adult population, blood-injection-injury fears may explain approximately 10% of cases of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Addressing such fears will likely improve the effectiveness of vaccination programmes.
Description: This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
URI: https://oxfordhealth-nhs.archive.knowledgearc.net/handle/123456789/881
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