UCLA

Background: Given the high prevalence of vaccine preventable diseases, decline in childhood vaccination coverage, and data collection logistical challenges, we sought to validate a shortened Vaccination Demand Questionnaire (VaDQ) to estimate childhood vaccination acceptance and hesitancy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).Methods: Using follow-up data from rVSV ZEBOV-GP vaccinated and unvaccinated populations in the DRC, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of two shortened VaDQs and conducted a sensitivity analysis comparing sensitivity and specificity of the shortened VaDQs at different dichotomizing cut-points. Results: The 11-item VaDQ (VaDQ-11) was most accurate when utilizing its mean for dichotomization, resulting in the highest combination of sensitivity (94.4%) and specificity (81.1%). Conclusion: Use of VaDQ-11 would save time and resources in data collection, allowing for its greater use. This would result in broader understanding of childhood vaccination acceptance and hesitancy in the DRC and help tailor public health interventions for optimizing childhood vaccination uptake.