An evaluation of attitude toward vaccines among healthcare workers of a (original) (raw)
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Annali di igiene : medicina preventiva e di comunita, 2017
BACKGROUND Vaccination is an effective and safe health technology. Despite this vaccine coverage falls short of national and international targets. Study design. The aim of the study was to evaluate the views of medical staff at Messina University Hospital regarding vaccinations, their current and future vaccination status and whether they recommend it to their patients. METHODS The study was conducted from April 2016 to March 2017 by an anonymous face-to-face questionnaire submitted to HCWs. RESULTS A general lack of confidence and insecurity about vaccination was shown by a substantial proportion of physicians analyzed while pediatricians showed a positive attitude to vaccines. However, many physicians had not been immunized with the recommended vaccines for HCWs and therefore represent a potential source of infection for both patients and the general population. CONCLUSIONS Despite the evidence of the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, compliance by HCWs remains very low for a...
Attitudes toward vaccination among healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study from Italy
European journal of public health, 2020
current vaccine education is not very effective. We analysed the problem of VH in relation to Health Literacy (HL) and the perception of vaccine preventable diseases-related risks in a sample of parents. Methods: We conducted a survey among parents between February and November 2018. We collected data on demographic, main sources of information, vaccination attitude (using the Vaccine Confidence Index (VCI) adapted from Larson HJ 2016), HL levels(using an adapted version of IMETER and knowledge of signs and symptoms of diphtheria, tetanus and measles. Results: The study included 772 parents, 620 women (mean age 39 years), 48.2% had diploma. The main source of information was the doctor (85.5%) followed by the web(24.2%). The average VCI was 3.78(range: 0.1-10) with lower values among parents informed through social networks (2.05-2.78). Analysing the IMETER test, 90% had a good or acceptable level of HL. No significant correlation between VCI and HL was found. For parents who identified at least 3 specific elements of selected diseases, the average VCI was significantly higher(Measles 4.32,Tetanus 4.64,Diphtheria 5.84). Conclusions: The HL level did not correlate with the VCI. A low VCI was associated with poor knowledge of selected diseases: this confirms the importance of a correct risk perception. This study in accordance with the literature suggests to amplify the model used to analyse the VH taking into account cognitive biases (i.e. ambiguity aversion and omission bias) as important factor affecting the parents' decision making. We aim to expand our work building a survey to categorise parents according their main cognitive bias. This may be useful to understand the better communication strategies to effectively have an impact on each parents' behaviour. Key messages: This study in accordance with the literature suggests to amplify the model used to analyse the VH taking into account cognitive biases. The Health Literacy is not enough to explain the problem of the Vaccine Hesitancy.
Vaccines
Background: Recommended vaccinations are the cheapest and most effective measure to reduce the risk of transmission and related complications, especially in high-risk healthcare settings. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of HCWs in relation to national recommendations. Methods: A transversal study was conducted through administration of a questionnaire by personal interview. The following care units were involved: Paediatric, Neonatal, Cardiac Surgery and General Intensive Care Units and Infectious Diseases Unit. Results: The study sample comprised 308 HCWs. Half the sample were aware of the vaccination recommendations, with occupation and age found to be predictive factors (OR = 9.38, 95%CI: 2.07–42.41; OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.22–0.60). A higher percentage defined the diseases as a risk for their patients’ health, although this perception was lower in the over-40 age group. In several cases, there were statistically significant differences between th...
International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
Objectives: This study aims to characterize personal attitudes and knowledge of a sample of Italian occupational physicians (OPhs) towards immunization practice in the case of healthcare workers (HCWs). Material and Methods: A total of 90 OPhs (42.2% of males, 57.8% of females, mean age of 50.1±8.3 years old) compiled a structured questionnaire through a telephonic interview. They were asked about the official Italian recommendations for HCWs, their general knowledge of vaccine practice, their propensity towards vaccines (both in general and about specific immunizations), their risk perception about the vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. Eventually, a regression analysis was performed in order to identify factors predictive for vaccine propensity. Results: Only 12 out of 90 subjects correctly identified all the 7 recommended immunizations. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine was correctly identified by 95.6% of the sample, and was also associated with the more positive attitude and the more accurate risk perception. Influenza vaccine had the lowest acceptance (75.9%). Eventually, pertussis, measles, parotitis and varicella vaccines were insufficiently recognized as
Italian Journal of Pediatrics
Background: Vaccination represents one of the most effective means of preventing infections for the population and for the public health in general. Recently there has been a decline in vaccinations, also among healthcare workers (HCWs). The aim of the study is to detect the knowledge, skills, attitudes and barriers of HCWs regarding vaccinations in a tertiary children's hospital in order to support clinical management in immunisation practices. Methods: An observational study was conducted on 255 subjects over a period of 8 months. The 31-item questionnaire considered profession, level of instruction and different ages. It included questions taken from a questionnaire used for a Canadian research and one used by the Bellinzona hospital. A 4-point Likert scale and closed-ended questions were used. A confidence interval of 95%, p value ≤ 0.05, Chi-square, ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test were considered. Results: In the last 5 years less than one third of the sample were vaccinated against flu. 77.8% (n.130) of nurses and 45.8% (n.19) of doctors were not vaccinated (p < 0.0001). As for risk perception, 51.5% of nurses and 90.6% of doctors believe that their risk of contracting influenza is greater than that of the general population. In relation to the injection site, in all the age ranges there was a high level of knowledge except for those aged over 61 who responded incorrectly. Doctors were more prepared (p < 0.0001). 50% of the sample used internet only as a source of information for vaccines. Generally, scientific sources were used infrequently. The higher the education level, the more frequent the utilisation of trustworthy scientific resources and literature. (p = 0.0002). Conclusions: In line with the attitude observed in recent years, nurses are not inclined to get vaccinated themselves although they agree to having their children vaccinated. HCWs have a good level of knowledge about vaccines and immunisation practices. With the nurses we found that the higher the education level, the greater the knowledge about vaccines which leads to the conclusion that low levels of adherence are not due to a lack of knowledge, but rather, to a low perception of risks. Hence the need to strengthen the vaccination strategies inside the companies.
Vaccines
The cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the recommended vaccinations and factors affecting such outcomes among a sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) in public hospitals in Italy. Only 14.1% knew all the recommended vaccinations for HCWs. Physicians and those who had received information about vaccinations from scientific journals, educational activities, or professional associations were more likely to have this knowledge, while those aged 36–45 were more likely to have less knowledge than those in the age group below 36 years. Only 57.3% agreed that the information received about vaccinations was reliable. Respondents who had children, who worked in pediatric/neonatal wards, who were more knowledgeable, or who did not need further information about vaccinations considered the available information to be reliable. Only 17.7% of respondents always recommended vaccinations to their patients. This behavior was more likely to occur in physici...
Vaccines
Healthcare workers (HCWs) in paediatric hospitals are an important source of advice on vaccinations, but vaccine hesitancy can affect even these professionals. The aim of this study is to assess this phenomenon, measuring it by means of a scoring system. A survey was conducted in five departments of an Italian paediatric university hospital of national interest. Vaccination against influenza was considered a behavioral indicator of vaccination uptake. Using the collected data, the healthcare worker’s vaccination compliance index (HVCI) was computed. The results demonstrate statistically significant differences between departments and professional profiles. Nearly 80% of the sample was not immunized against seasonal influenza. According to the HVCI scores, the most hesitant departments are the intensive care unit, emergency room, and oncohematology department, while the most hesitant professional profiles are nurses and auxiliary staff. The score of the unvaccinated is significantly ...
Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 2014
Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of infection and transmission of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. In recent years cases of measles or varicella in health care workers were observed with increasing frequency. The aim of our study was to investigate attitude toward immunization and risk perception of measles, rubella, mumps, varicella, and pertussis in HCWs working in 6 hospitals of Florence (Italy). A cross-sectional survey among the physicians, nurses, midwives, and nursing assistants working in selected departments was performed trough a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. Overall, 600 questionnaires were sent and 436 HCWs' completed forms were included into the study (Participation rate: 72.7%). Data were analyzed with STATA 11.0® and odds ratio (OR) were calculated in a multivariate analysis. Among all respondents 74.9% were females. The average age was nearly 43-years-old (42.9 - SD 8.95). The majority of participants (58.6%) were nurses, 21.3% physici...
Vaccines
Background: In Italy, the loss of confidence towards vaccination resulted in low vaccine coverage, also among healthcare workers (HCWs). Indeed, low vaccination coverage among HCWs can lead to dangerous outbreaks of disease, reduce productivity, and increase absenteeism. The aim of this study was to investigate the vaccine coverage and attitudes toward vaccination among HCWs. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs referred to all hospitals of the Local Health Authority 02 of Abruzzo Region, Italy. The survey was based on the questionnaire proposed by the H-ProImmune Project. Results: A total of 347 HCWs were enrolled in the study. Of these, 57.3% reported missing diphtheritis-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination, 50.1% reported missing measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination, and 62.5% reported missing flu vaccination. Regarding attitudes, other healthcare professionals reported to believe more in natural immunization compared to vaccination (26.5%; p &...
Karafillakis et al. (2016) Vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers in Europe: a qualitative study
Vaccine
Healthcare workers (HCWs) are often referred to as the most trusted source of vaccine-related information for their patients. However, the evidence suggests that a number of HCWs are vaccine-hesitant. This study consists of 65 semi-structured interviews with vaccine providers in Croatia, France, Greece, and Romania to investigate concerns HCWs might have about vaccination. The results revealed that vaccine hesitancy is present in all four countries among vaccine providers. The most important concern across all countries was the fear of vaccine side effects. New vaccines were singled out due to perceived lack of testing for vaccine safety and efficacy. Furthermore, while high trust in health authorities was expressed by HCWs, there was also strong mistrust of pharmaceutical companies due to perceived financial interests and lack of communication about side effects. The notion that it is a doctor’s responsibility to respond to hesitant patients was reported in all countries. Concerns were also seen to be country- and contextspecific. Strategies to improve confidence in vaccines should be adapted to the specific political, social, cultural and economic context of countries. Furthermore, while most interventions focus on education and improving information about vaccine safety, effectiveness, or the need for vaccines, concerns raised in this study identify other determinants of hesitancy that need addressing. The representativeness of the views of the interviewed HCWs must be interpreted with caution. This a qualitative study with a small sample size that included geographical areas where vaccination uptake was lower or where hesitancy was more prevalent and it reflects individual participants’ beliefs and attitudes toward the topic. As HCWs have the potential of influencing patient vaccination uptake, it is crucial to improve their confidence in vaccination and engage them in activities targeting vaccine hesitancy among their patients.