Objective: Adult booster vaccination against pertussis can help prevent severe infections in young infants. We examined influences on intention to accept pertussis booster vaccination among pregnant women in Mexico City.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, recruiting convenience samples of pregnant women receiving prenatal care from three public healthcare centers between March and May 2012. Our primary outcome was intention to accept pertussis vaccination during pregnancy. We examined socio-demographic factors, vaccination history, pertussis knowledge, perceptions of vaccine information sources, and other potential influences on vaccine decision-making.
Results: A total of 402 pregnant women agreed to participate, of which 387 (96%) provided their intention to accept or decline pertussis vaccination. Among respondents, 57% intended to accept a pertussis booster vaccine if offered, but only 16% had ever heard of pertussis, and only 2% knew someone who had contracted this disease. Over 80% of respondents would accept pertussis vaccination if recommended by an obstetrician-gynecologist. The most frequently selected reasons to refuse pertussis vaccination were concerns that the vaccine might harm the unborn baby or pregnant woman. In multivariate analysis, rating doctors and nurses as good sources of vaccine information, and having ever heard of pertussis, were independently associated with intention to accept pertussis vaccination.
Conclusions: Promoting patient awareness about pertussis disease and vaccine safety, and encouraging general practitioners, nurses and obstetricians to recommend pertussis booster vaccine, may increase vaccine uptake among pregnant women.
Keywords: Mexico; Pertussis; Pregnancy; Tdap; Vaccine acceptance.
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