COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy of Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes in Turkiye: A Mixed-Methods Study

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the attitudes of parents who have children with type 1 diabetes mellitus to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19.Material and Methods: The target population of the study consisted of 124 parents of children followed in canakkale Onsekiz Mart Univer-sity Hospital, Pediatric Endocrinology Clinic with the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. We used an online questionnaire to determine the attitudes of parents.Results: A total of 102 parents, 76 of whom were mothers, were includ-ed in the study. Mean age of the parents was 40.5 & PLUSMN; 7.27, and children were 12 & PLUSMN; 4.07. Mean duration elapsed since the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was 4.5 & PLUSMN; 3.3 years. About half of the parents thought that type 1 diabetes mellitus was a risk factor for COVID-19. While the rate of parents who were not vaccinated for COVID-19 was 21.6%, 46.1% were hesitant to vaccinate their children. The parental-related factors causing vaccine hesitation were fathers, young parents, those who weren't wor-ried about their children being infected with COVID-19, did not think children with type 1 diabetes mellitus were more at risk, or were unvac-cinated. Child-related factors were young age or short duration of ill-ness. In qualitative analysis, vaccination-hesitant parents' main concern was vaccine side effects, and they expected clear evidence-based confi-dence-building recommendations for vaccination.Conclusion: In conclusion, it is seen that especially young parents, whose children are small or newly diagnosed, will have problems in their motivation about vaccination.