Explaining the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19: General attitudes towards vaccination and predictors from health behavior theories.

The goal of our study was to examine the intention to get vaccinated using predictors from the 5C Model of vaccination attitudes, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Belief Model (HBM). Between August and November 2020, an online survey was delivered to 1428 participants in the UK and Germany (mean age = 40.6; 57% women), assessing socio-demographic and health factors, general vaccination attitudes, TBP and HBM variables, and COVID-19 vaccination intention. Vaccination intentions did not differ by country or survey period. Predictors of intention with the highest explanatory power in a relative weight analysis were confidence, collective responsibility (5C) perceived behavioral control, social norms, attitudes (especially negative affect & TPB cognitions), and perceived benefits (HBM). Women reported lower intention, although the effect size was small. Predictors from the TPB and HBM were effective to explain the intention to receive COVID-19 vaccines over and above socio-demographic variables, health-related factors and general vaccination attitudes. The results are interpreted in the context of current vaccination campaigns. Messages promoting sense of autonomy and control over the decision to get vaccinated, approval from significant others and reassurance that getting vaccinated will not be associated with fear or other negative feelings are important facilitators of vaccine uptake.

Gender differences in the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to analyse gender differences in COVID-19 vaccination intentions. SUBJECT AND METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science and PsycInfo were searched (November 2020 to January 2021) for studies reporting absolute frequencies of COVID-19 vaccination intentions by gender. Averaged odds ratios comparing vaccination intentions among men and women were computed. Descriptive analyses of the studies were reported. RESULTS: Sixty studies were included in the review and data from 46 studies (n = 141,550) were available for meta-analysis. A majority (58%) of papers reported men to have higher intentions to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Meta-analytic calculations showed that significantly fewer women stated that they would get vaccinated than men, OR 1.41 (95% CI 1.28 to 1.55). This effect was evident in several countries, and the difference was bigger in samples of health care workers than in unspecified general population samples. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis found lower vaccination intentions among women than men. This difference is discussed in the light of recent data on actual vaccination rates in different countries. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-021-01677-w.

Gender differences in self-reported family history of cancer: A review and secondary data analysis.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of family history of cancer (FHC) mostly relies on self-report. Our goal was to find out whether there is a systematic gender difference in self-reported FHC. METHODS: We identified nine population-based studies which provided statistics of FHC in men and women (N1  = 404 541). Furthermore, we analyzed data (N2  = 167 154) from several iterations of the US-based Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) and the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We calculated the proportion of positive FHC, odds ratios (OR M/F), 95% confidence intervals, and aggregated statistics. We additionally analyzed in-depth questions about FHC from HINTS 5 Cycle 2. RESULTS: In the reviewed studies the odds of men reporting a FHC were lower compared with the odds of women with an average OR of 0.84 [0.71; 1.00] across all studies and an OR of 0.75 [0.70; 0.80] for the six studies from the US and Europe. The gender gap was replicated in our own analyses of HINTS and NHIS with an average OR of 0.75 [0.71; 0.79]. In HINTS 5 Cycle 2 men described themselves as less familiar with their FHC and less confident answering questions regarding FHC. They were also less likely to discuss FHC with family members. CONCLUSIONS: Men- at least in the US and Europe-were consistently less likely to report FHC compared with women. Future research should investigate how the assessment of FHC can be improved to reduce these differences. Health care professionals should also consider the potential for biased reporting by gender when assessing FHC.