COVID-19 Vaccination Readiness and Hesitancy among the Patients with Chronic Diseases in a Teaching Hospital in Ekiti State, Nigeria



Oluwaseyi A. Akpor1, *, Timothy O. Akingbade1, Oluwaseun E. Adegbilero-Iwari2, Oghenerobor B. Akpor3
1 Department of Nursing Science, Afe Babalola University, PMB 5454, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
2 Department of Community Medicine, Afe Babalola University, PMB 5454, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
3 Department of Biological Sciences, Afe Babalola University, PMB 5454, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background:

Vaccination has been a great strategy used by public health experts to control the spread of deadly diseases such as COVID-19, although this effort is usually threatened by vaccine hesitancy.

Aim:

The study assessed vaccine hesitancy among people with chronic diseases in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.

Methods:

The research design was descriptive and cross-sectional. One hundred and ninety-three (193) participants who were purposively selected from four different chronic clinics in the hospital participated in the study. Socio-demographic data and vaccine knowledge were determined using a standardized questionnaire, while the readiness and hesitancy levels with responsible factors were determined using an adapted questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results:

Findings showed that the majority of the participants were female and between the ages of 21-40 years. About half (43.8%) of the participants had poor knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccine. Age (X2= 17.255, p=0.028) and length of disease (X2= 13.917, p=0.031) were observed to be significantly associated with the participants' knowledge level of the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination. Participants were hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine due to historical influence (35.6%), politics (43.1%) and roles of health professionals (50.8%).

Conclusion:

High-level advocacy about vaccines (especially new ones, such as COVID-19 vaccine) and its benefits should be encouraged at all levels so as to improve acceptance and minimize vaccination hesitancy among the populace thereby promoting public health.

Keywords: COVID-19, Knowledge, Vaccination, Hesitancy, Chronic diseases.


Abstract Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2023
Volume: 16
DOI: 10.2174/18749445-v16-e230913-2023-130

Article History:

Electronic publication date: 13/09/2023
Collection year: 2023

© 2023 Akpor et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Nursing Science, Afe Babalola University, PMB 5454, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria; E-mail: akporoa@abuad.edu.ng