Analysis of Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours of Health Care Workers towards Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Recommended Vaccinations: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital

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 the care units (p < 0.001). Around three-quarters of the sample agreed that vaccination should be mandatory; willingness to undergo a future booster vaccination was statistically correlated with the variables of age and care unit (p < 0.001, p = 0.03). Conclusion: The protection of health in the workplace can be achieved through some strategic actions, such as the implementation of educational strategies, and protocols for the monitoring of immunocompetence and the improvement of vaccination.

[1]  O. Tal,et al.  Parents’ attitudes toward children’s vaccination as a marker of trust in health systems , 2021, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[2]  C. Betsch,et al.  Determinants of influenza vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women in Europe: a systematic review , 2021, European Journal of Medical Research.

[3]  R. Tanner,et al.  MMR Vaccine Attitude and Uptake Research in the United Kingdom: A Critical Review , 2021, Vaccines.

[4]  A. Poulsen,et al.  Self-reported immunity and opinions on vaccination of hospital personnel among paediatric healthcare workers in Denmark , 2020, Vaccine.

[5]  P. Lopalco,et al.  Adherence to Vaccination Policy among Public Health Professionals: Results of a National Survey in Italy , 2020, Vaccines.

[6]  M. B. Di Sciascio,et al.  Knowledge and Attitude towards Vaccination among Healthcare Workers: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study in a Southern Italian Region , 2020, Vaccines.

[7]  F. Napolitano,et al.  Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about Vaccinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Italy , 2020, Vaccines.

[8]  M. Theodoridou,et al.  Vaccination of healthcare personnel in Europe: Update to current policies. , 2019, Vaccine.

[9]  D. Pittet,et al.  Missed vaccinations and critical care admission: all you may wish to know or rediscover—a narrative review , 2019, Intensive Care Medicine.

[10]  F. Napolitano,et al.  Healthcare workers' knowledge, beliefs, and coverage regarding vaccinations in critical care units in Italy. , 2019, Vaccine.

[11]  G. La Torre,et al.  Tackling Biological Risk in the Workplace: Updates and Prospects Regarding Vaccinations for Subjects at Risk of Occupational Exposure in Italy , 2019, Vaccines.

[12]  M. Chung,et al.  Determinants of nurses' willingness to receive vaccines: Application of the health belief model. , 2019, Journal of clinical nursing.

[13]  A. Linos,et al.  Immunization related behaviour among healthcare workers in Europe: Results of the HProImmune survey. , 2019, Central European journal of public health.

[14]  F. Raffi,et al.  Acceptance of pregnant women's vaccination against pertussis among French women and health professionals: PREVACOQ-1 and -2 studies. , 2019, Medecine et maladies infectieuses.

[15]  M. Theodoridou,et al.  Vaccination of healthcare workers: is mandatory vaccination needed? , 2018, Expert review of vaccines.

[16]  C. Rizzo,et al.  Parental vaccine hesitancy in Italy - Results from a national survey. , 2018, Vaccine.

[17]  M. Hulscher,et al.  Assessing determinants of the intention to accept a pertussis cocooning vaccination: A survey among healthcare workers in maternity and paediatric care. , 2018, Vaccine.

[18]  G. Rubin,et al.  A systematic review of factors affecting vaccine uptake in young children. , 2017, Vaccine.

[19]  F. Casagranda,et al.  Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of occupational physicians towards vaccinations of health care workers: A cross sectional pilot study in North-Eastern Italy. , 2017, International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health.

[20]  G. La Torre,et al.  Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviours towards Recommended Vaccinations among Healthcare Workers , 2017, Healthcare.

[21]  L. Fabiani,et al.  Attitudinal variables and a possible mediating mechanism for vaccination practice in health care workers of a local hospital in L'Aquila (Italy) , 2016, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[22]  N. McCarthy,et al.  Pertussis vaccination for healthcare workers: staff attitudes and perceptions associated with high coverage vaccination programmes in England. , 2016, Public health.

[23]  G. Poland,et al.  Immunization of Health-Care Providers: Necessity and Public Health Policies , 2016, Healthcare.

[24]  J. Langley,et al.  Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of pregnant women approached to participate in a Tdap maternal immunization randomized, controlled trial , 2016, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[25]  H. Burgmann,et al.  Knowledge, risk perception and attitudes toward vaccination among Austrian health care workers: A cross-sectional study , 2016, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[26]  A. Timen,et al.  Barriers encountered during the implementation of a policy guideline on the vaccination of health care workers during the 2013–2014 measles outbreak in the Netherlands: a qualitative study , 2015, BMC Research Notes.

[27]  P. Vanhems,et al.  Vaccination of healthcare workers: A review , 2015, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[28]  E. Naumova,et al.  Dangers of vaccine refusal near the herd immunity threshold: a modelling study. , 2015, The Lancet. Infectious diseases.

[29]  H. Witteman.  Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy With Values , 2015, Pediatrics.

[30]  R. Roberts,et al.  Occupational vaccination of health care workers: uptake, attitudes and potential solutions. , 2015, Public health.

[31]  G. Kok,et al.  Sociocognitive predictors of the intention of healthcare workers to receive the influenza vaccine in Belgian, Dutch and German hospital settings. , 2015, The Journal of hospital infection.

[32]  H. Marshall,et al.  Factors affecting uptake of recommended immunizations among health care workers in South Australia , 2015, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[33]  R. Prato,et al.  Low vaccination coverage among italian healthcare workers in 2013 , 2015, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[34]  M. Levi,et al.  Attitude toward immunization and risk perception of measles, rubella, mumps, varicella, and pertussis in health care workers working in 6 hospitals of Florence, Italy 2011 , 2014, Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.

[35]  R. Prato,et al.  Addressing the anti-vaccination movement and the role of HCWs. , 2014, Vaccine.

[36]  T. Perl,et al.  Healthcare providers as sources of vaccine-preventable diseases. , 2014, Vaccine.

[37]  M. Theodoridou.  Professional and ethical responsibilities of health-care workers in regard to vaccinations. , 2014, Vaccine.

[38]  P. van Damme,et al.  Incentives and barriers regarding immunization against influenza and hepatitis of health care workers. , 2014, Vaccine.

[39]  C. Betsch,et al.  Personal attitudes and misconceptions, not official recommendations guide occupational physicians' vaccination decisions. , 2014, Vaccine.

[40]  M. Theodoridou,et al.  Attitudes toward mandatory occupational vaccinations and vaccination coverage against vaccine-preventable diseases of health care workers in primary health care centers. , 2013, American journal of infection control.

[41]  K. Corace,et al.  Factors influencing pandemic influenza vaccination of healthcare workers--a systematic review. , 2012, Vaccine.

[42]  J. McCullers,et al.  Motivating factors for high rates of influenza vaccination among healthcare workers. , 2011, Vaccine.

[43]  S. Mahy,et al.  Couverture vaccinale des professionnels de santé dans un service d’infectiologie , 2011 .

[44]  R. Prato,et al.  Vaccination in healthcare workers: an Italian perspective , 2010, Expert review of vaccines.

[45]  S. Omer,et al.  Vaccine Refusal, Mandatory Immunization, and the Risks of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases , 2010 .

[46]  Noel T Brewer,et al.  Meta-analysis of the relationship between risk perception and health behavior: the example of vaccination. , 2007, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[47]  S. Skull,et al.  Infectious Disease: Poor health care worker vaccination coverage and knowledge of vaccination recommendations in a tertiary Australia hospital , 2002, Australian and New Zealand journal of public health.