Vaccine hesitancy among general practitioners: evaluation and comparison of their immunisation practice for themselves, their patients and their children

AbstractTo gain knowledge about vaccine hesitancy among general practitioners (GPs), we conducted a survey to compare their vaccination attitudes for themselves, their children and their patients. A questionnaire survey was sent to GPs working in private practice in the Rh ône-Alpes region, France, between October 2013 and January 2014. GPs’ immunisation practices for diphtheria–tetanus–poliomyelitis (DTP), measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), pneumococcal, pertussis, hepatitis B (hepB), human papillomavirus (HPV), seasonal and H1N1 influenza and meningococcal C (m enC) vaccines were considered. Divergence was defined by the presence of at least one different immunisation practice between their patients and their children. A total of 693 GPs answered the questionnaire. When considering all investigated vaccines, 45.7 % of divergence was found. Individually, d ivergence was highest for the newest and more controversial, i.e. HPV (11.8 %), hepB (13.1 %), menC (23.7 %) and pneumococcal (19.8 %) vaccines. Only 73.9 % of GPs declared that they recommended HPV vaccine for their daughters. After multivariate analysis, older age was associated with higher r isk of divergence. According to the French 2012 recommendations, GPs were insufficiently immunised, with 88 % for DTP and 72 % for pertussis. GPs declared to recommend vaccination against DTP, pertussis and MMR for their patients and their children in more than 95 % of cases. The declared rates o f recommendation were ...
Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research