Disparities in Vaccine Awareness and Media Preferences Among Adolescents in Bandung Indonesia

Abstract

Vaccines are often perceived as biological products specifically designed to build immunity for infants and toddlers from various viral threats. In contrast to this belief, the Indonesian Pediatric Association states that immunizations are also required by adolescents and recommends several vaccines that have been tested for their effectiveness. The present study aims to identify the vaccine awareness, information sources and media preferences of adolescents from Bandung City and Bandung Regency. The study sample consisted of 70 students from 2 high schools in Bandung City and Bandung Regency, and were selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire and focus group discussion. Quantitative statistical techniques were applied for analysis of data. The results showed that 91.42% of Bandung City adolescents had high vaccine awareness, while 85.71% of Bandung Regency adolescents had low vaccine awareness. Regarding information sources, 25.71% of Bandung City adolescents received information on vaccines from doctors, followed by 22.85% of adolescents who received information from their parents. Meanwhile, 42.85% of Bandung Regency adolescents receive their information through television. There are similarities as well as disparities when comparing media preference between adolescents from Bandung City and Bandung Regency. As many as 31.42% of Bandung City adolescents and 42.85% of Bandung Regency adolescents preferred Instagram and Twitter. However, 28.57% of Bandung City adolescents still have an interest in print media to seek vaccine information. Meanwhile, 34.28% of Bandung Regency adolescents prefer vaccine information accessed through YouTube.