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Impact of Health Misinformation on Vaccine Acceptance among Parents in Nigeria

Abstract

Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions for preventing infectious diseases and reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. However, the spread of inaccurate, misleading, or false health information may influence individuals' perceptions of vaccines and their willingness to accept recommended immunization. Health misinformation refers to false, inaccurate, misleading, or unverified information about health conditions, vaccines, treatments, or health interventions that is communicated through interpersonal networks, traditional media, social media, online platforms, or other information channels. Vaccine acceptance refers to the willingness of eligible individuals or parents and caregivers to receive or permit recommended vaccines despite the availability of different perceptions, concerns, and information about vaccination. Parents play an important role in childhood immunization because they are generally responsible for making or influencing vaccination decisions for their children. In Nigeria, the rapid expansion of social media and digital communication has increased the speed at which health information can be shared, while misinformation concerning vaccine safety, effectiveness, ingredients, side effects, fertility, religious or cultural beliefs, and alleged hidden motives may create uncertainty and distrust among parents. Exposure to inaccurate health information may reduce confidence in vaccines, increase perceived risks, and contribute to vaccine hesitancy or refusal. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of health misinformation on vaccine acceptance among parents in Nigeria. The study is anchored on the Health Belief Model, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and the Information Deficit Model. The Health Belief Model explains vaccine-related decisions through individuals' perceptions of susceptibility to disease, severity of disease, benefits of vaccination, perceived barriers, and cues to action. The Theory of Planned Behavior explains how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control can influence intentions and behaviours relating to vaccination. The Information Deficit Model provides a framework for understanding how gaps in accurate health information may affect perceptions and decisions, while recognizing that misinformation can compete with evidence-based health information. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how exposure to health misinformation may influence vaccine acceptance among parents in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative cross-sectional research design. Primary data will be collected from parents and caregivers in selected Nigerian communities using a structured self-administered or interviewer-administered questionnaire. A multistage sampling technique will be employed to select states, local government areas, communities, healthcare facilities, and eligible parents. Health misinformation exposure will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of exposure to vaccine-related misinformation, exposure through social media, messaging applications, interpersonal communication, traditional media, community networks, and online platforms; perceived credibility of misinformation; exposure to false claims about vaccine safety and effectiveness; misinformation concerning vaccine ingredients and side effects; and frequency of encountering contradictory vaccine information. Vaccine acceptance will be assessed using indicators such as willingness to vaccinate children according to the recommended schedule, intention to receive recommended vaccines, willingness to complete vaccination schedules, confidence in vaccine safety, willingness to recommend vaccination to other parents, and willingness to accept vaccines offered through routine immunization programmes. Information will also be collected on parents' age, sex, educational level, occupation, number and age of children, place of residence, previous vaccination experiences, sources of health information, and interaction with healthcare providers. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize patterns of misinformation exposure and vaccine acceptance. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis, will be used to determine the impact of health misinformation on vaccine acceptance. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability of the research instrument, model assumptions, goodness of fit, multicollinearity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that greater exposure to health misinformation has a significant negative impact on vaccine acceptance among parents in Nigeria. Parents who frequently encounter misleading or false information about vaccines are expected to demonstrate lower levels of confidence in vaccine safety and effectiveness and lower willingness to accept recommended vaccines for their children. Misinformation may increase perceived risks associated with vaccination, create uncertainty about vaccine benefits, reinforce existing concerns, and encourage parents to rely on unverified information when making vaccination decisions. Conversely, parents who have limited exposure to misinformation and greater access to credible health information from trusted healthcare professionals are expected to demonstrate higher vaccine acceptance. However, health misinformation alone may not fully determine vaccine acceptance because vaccination decisions may also be influenced by previous experiences with healthcare services, trust in health authorities, vaccine availability, accessibility of immunization services, cultural beliefs, religious beliefs, community norms, healthcare provider communication, and perceived risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore, addressing misinformation should form part of a broader vaccine-confidence and health-communication strategy. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on health misinformation, vaccine acceptance, vaccine hesitancy, health communication, immunization, maternal and child health, epidemiology, and public health in Nigeria by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between exposure to inaccurate health information and parents' vaccination decisions. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, state ministries of health, immunization programme managers, healthcare providers, public-health educators, community health workers, media organizations, social-media health communicators, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for addressing vaccine-related misinformation. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening public health communication, improving access to accurate vaccine information, developing targeted misinformation-response campaigns, training healthcare workers in effective vaccine communication, strengthening community engagement, promoting credible digital health information, monitoring emerging vaccine misinformation, and improving public trust in immunization programmes across Nigeria.

Keywords: Health misinformation, vaccine acceptance, parents, Nigeria, vaccine hesitancy, immunization, health communication, vaccine confidence, childhood vaccination, public health, maternal and child health, health education.