Differences in parental risk perception of vaccine-preventable diseases based on disease name and clinical description: Results from the United States.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the perceived risk of six vaccine-preventable diseases-diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, and polio-based on disease name and clinical description, and compare differences in risk perception.

METHODS

We developed and administered an online survey to parents and legal guardians of children under 5 years of age in the United States from August 20-September 9, 2025. Study participants used Likert scales to characterize the risks posed by the diseases to unvaccinated children in the United States when presented with the name of the disease, and a clinical description of the disease that omitted the name. Wilcoxon matched-pair tests and multiple regression models comprised data analyses.

RESULTS

A total of 1033 participants were included in the analysis. Participants most often assessed all of the vaccine-preventable diseases as posing a high risk to unvaccinated children, based on both disease name and clinical description. Still, participants consistently rated disease risk as being lower when presented with only the name of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that many survey respondents still perceive vaccine-preventable diseases to pose high risks to unvaccinated children in the United States, but that many do not fully appreciate the clinical significance of these diseases.