To accept or reject? Undergraduate physical therapy students’ attitudes and factors toward COVID-19 vaccine

Abstract

Introduction: The transition from online to face-to-face classes in the Philippines necessitated vaccination against COVID-19 for the students to prevent its transmission. The country has yet to benefit from herd immunity given the Filipinos’ hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccine (CoVax). The objective of the study is to describe the attitude of the undergraduate physical therapy students toward CoVax and determine the correlation between attitude toward CoVax and vaccine hesitancy factors. Methods: A descriptive-correlational research design was used. A convenience sample of 1st year college freshmen (n = 13) was used in the study. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure attitude toward CoVax and vaccine hesitancy factors. Pearson correlation was used to determine the correlation between attitude toward CoVax and vaccine hesitancy factors and paired t test to compare change in attitude toward CoVax before and after getting vaccinated. Results: Majority (62%) of the students expressed a neutral attitude toward CoVax before getting vaccinated. Among all factors, the students rated their confidence (4.31) with CoVax as high but were less confident (3.92) and complacent (3.31) about the vaccine. A negative attitude toward COVAX before vaccination showed a statistically significant relationship with CoVax confidence (r = -.565; n = 13; p = .004). There was a change in the attitude toward CoVax from neutral before vaccination toward acceptance after getting vaccinated; however, the change, .31, 95% CI [-.72-1.33], was not statistically significant t (12) = .652, p = 0.527. Discussion: Reducing complacency toward and improving confidence in CoVax must be done to improve the attitude of the students toward acceptance of the CoVax.