TY - JOUR
T1 - The intention of Dutch general practitioners to offer vaccination against pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and pertussis to people aged 60 years and older
AU - Lehmann, Birthe A
AU - Eilers, Renske
AU - Mollema, Liesbeth
AU - Ferreira, José
AU - de Melker, Hester E
PY - 2017/6/7
Y1 - 2017/6/7
N2 - BACKGROUND: Increasing life expectancy results in a larger proportion of older people susceptible to vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs). In the Netherlands, influenza vaccination is routinely offered to people aged 60 years and older. Vaccination against pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and pertussis is rarely used. These vaccines will be evaluated by the Dutch Health Council and might be routinely offered to older people in the near future. Possible expansion of the program depends partly on the willingness of general practitioners (GPs) to endorse additional vaccinations. In this study, we assessed predictors of GPs' attitude and intention to vaccinate people aged 60 years and older.METHODS: GPs (N = 12.194) were invited to fill in an online questionnaire consisting of questions about social cognitive factors that can influence the willingness of GPs to vaccinate people aged 60 years and older, including underlying beliefs, practical considerations of adding more vaccines to the national program, demographics, and GPs' patient population characteristics. The questionnaire was filled in by 732 GPs.RESULTS: GPs were positive both about vaccination as a preventive tool and the influenza vaccination program, but somewhat less positive about expanding the current program. Prediction analysis showed that the intention of GPs to offer additional vaccination was predicted by their attitude towards offering additional vaccination, towards vaccination as a preventive tool, towards offering vaccination during an outbreak and on GPs opinion regarding suitability to offer additional vaccination (R
2 = 0.60). The attitude of GPs towards offering additional vaccination was predicted by the perceived severity of herpes zoster and pneumonia, as well as the perceived incidence of herpes zoster. Severity of diseases was ranked as important argument to recommend vaccination, followed by effectiveness and health benefits of vaccines.
CONCLUSION: Providing GPs with evidence-based information about the severity and prevalence of diseases, and effectiveness and health benefits of the vaccines, together with an active role of GPs in informing older people about vaccines, could modify the intention towards additional vaccination of people 60 years and older.
AB - BACKGROUND: Increasing life expectancy results in a larger proportion of older people susceptible to vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs). In the Netherlands, influenza vaccination is routinely offered to people aged 60 years and older. Vaccination against pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and pertussis is rarely used. These vaccines will be evaluated by the Dutch Health Council and might be routinely offered to older people in the near future. Possible expansion of the program depends partly on the willingness of general practitioners (GPs) to endorse additional vaccinations. In this study, we assessed predictors of GPs' attitude and intention to vaccinate people aged 60 years and older.METHODS: GPs (N = 12.194) were invited to fill in an online questionnaire consisting of questions about social cognitive factors that can influence the willingness of GPs to vaccinate people aged 60 years and older, including underlying beliefs, practical considerations of adding more vaccines to the national program, demographics, and GPs' patient population characteristics. The questionnaire was filled in by 732 GPs.RESULTS: GPs were positive both about vaccination as a preventive tool and the influenza vaccination program, but somewhat less positive about expanding the current program. Prediction analysis showed that the intention of GPs to offer additional vaccination was predicted by their attitude towards offering additional vaccination, towards vaccination as a preventive tool, towards offering vaccination during an outbreak and on GPs opinion regarding suitability to offer additional vaccination (R
2 = 0.60). The attitude of GPs towards offering additional vaccination was predicted by the perceived severity of herpes zoster and pneumonia, as well as the perceived incidence of herpes zoster. Severity of diseases was ranked as important argument to recommend vaccination, followed by effectiveness and health benefits of vaccines.
CONCLUSION: Providing GPs with evidence-based information about the severity and prevalence of diseases, and effectiveness and health benefits of the vaccines, together with an active role of GPs in informing older people about vaccines, could modify the intention towards additional vaccination of people 60 years and older.
KW - Netherlands/epidemiology
KW - adult
KW - aged
KW - female
KW - general practitioners/psychology
KW - herpes zoster vaccine/administration & dosage
KW - herpes zoster/epidemiology
KW - humans
KW - intention
KW - male
KW - middle aged
KW - pertussis vaccine/administration & dosage
KW - pneumococcal infections/epidemiology
KW - pneumococcal vaccines/administration & dosage
KW - surveys and questionnaires
KW - vaccination/psychology
KW - whooping cough/epidemiology
KW - Nederland/epidemiologie
KW - gordelroos/epidemiologie
KW - gordelroosvaccin/administratie en dosering
KW - huisartsen/psychologie
KW - intentie
KW - kinkhoest/epidemiologie
KW - kinkhoestvaccin/toediening & dosering
KW - mannelijk
KW - mensen
KW - middelbare leeftijd
KW - ouder
KW - pneumokokkeninfecties/epidemiologie
KW - pneumokokkenvaccinaties/administratie & dosering
KW - vaccinatie/psychologie
KW - volwassene
KW - vragenlijsten en enquêtes
KW - vrouwelijk
U2 - 10.1186/s12877-017-0511-7
DO - 10.1186/s12877-017-0511-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 28592229
SN - 1471-2318
VL - 17
JO - BMC Geriatrics
JF - BMC Geriatrics
IS - 1
M1 - 122
ER -