Open AccessThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination psychological antecedent assessment using the Arabic 5c validated tool: An online survey in 13 Arab countries
Author(s) -
M. Abdou,
Khalid A. Kheirallah,
Maged Ossama Aly,
Ahmed Ramadan,
Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi,
Iffat Elbarazi,
Ehsan Akram Deghidy,
Haider M. El Saeh,
Karem Mohamed Salem,
Ramy Mohamed Ghazy
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0260321
Subject(s) - vaccination , confidence interval , demography , medicine , population , health care , family medicine , psychology , immunology , environmental health , political science , sociology , law
Background Following the emergency approval of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, research into its vaccination hesitancy saw a substantial increase. However, the psychological behaviors associated with this hesitancy are still not completely understood. This study assessed the psychological antecedents associated with COVID-19 vaccination in the Arab population. Methodology The validated Arabic version of the 5C questionnaire was distributed online across various social media platforms in Arabic-speaking countries. The questionnaire had three sections, namely, socio-demographics, COVID-19 related infection and vaccination, and the 5C scale of vaccine psychological antecedents of confidence, complacency, constraints, calculation, and collective responsibility. Results In total, 4,474 participants with a mean age of 32.48 ± 10.76 from 13 Arab countries made up the final sample, 40.8% of whom were male. Around 26.7% of the participants were found to be confident about the COVID-19 vaccination, 10.7% indicated complacency, 96.5% indicated they had no constraints, 48.8% had a preference for calculation and 40.4% indicated they had collective responsibility. The 5C antecedents varied across the studied countries with the confidence and collective responsibility being the highest in the United Arab Emirates (59.0% and 58.0%, respectively), complacency and constraints in Morocco (21.0% and 7.0%, respectively) and calculation in Sudan (60.0%). The regression analyses revealed that sex, age, educational degrees, being a health care professional, history of COVID-19 infection and having a relative infected or died from COVID-19 significantly predicted the 5C psychological antecedents by different degrees. Conclusion There are wide psychological antecedent variations between Arab countries, and different determinants can have a profound effect on the COVID-19 vaccine’s psychological antecedents.