Awareness, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Meningococcal B Vaccine among Pediatricians in Italy

Abstract

Background and objectives: Vaccination against bacterial pathogens is decisive for preventing invasive meningococcal disease and pediatricians play a pivotal role in vaccination compliance and coverage. The aim of this study was to investigate awareness, attitude, and practices toward the vaccine against Meningococcal B serogroup (4CMenB) among a sample of Italian pediatricians. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using an online questionnaire from March to May 2015. Three multivariate logistic regression models were built to identify factors associated with the outcomes of interest. Results: The data showed that 95.5% of the interviewees correctly responded about the availability of 4CMenB vaccine in Italy, while only 28.0% knew the vaccination schedule for children aged two years or under. This knowledge was significantly higher in younger pediatricians and in those who worked a higher number of hours per week. Pediatricians self-reported a positive attitude toward the utility and safety of 4CMenB vaccine. Those pediatricians with a strong positive attitude toward the utility of the vaccine, who knew the vaccination schedules for children of two years or under, and who declared a satisfactory or good knowledge about the vaccine were more likely to inform parents about its availability in Italy, recommend the vaccination, and verify patients’ vaccination status, in their daily practice. Conclusions: The study highlights factors that currently influence pediatricians’ practices regarding the 4CMenB vaccine. The results showed the possible actions recommended to improve physicians’ awareness and behaviors in order to improve the vaccination compliance and invasive meningococcal diseases prevention.

Healthcare Providers’ Vaccine Perceptions, Hesitancy, and Recommendation to Patients: A Systematic Review

“…There was ample evidence that HCPs’ attitudes toward vaccines influenced their recommendation practices across specialties, including maternity care providers [ 55 , 111 ], occupational physicians [ 126 ], and general practitioners (GPs) seeing older patients [ 75 ]. Pediatricians with positive attitudes of meningococcal B vaccine (4CMenB) were five times more likely to recommend it [ 93 ], as were providers who believed vaccines are effective, beneficial, and safe [ 36 ]. HCPs who believed administering vaccination and advising patients about vaccines were their responsibility had increased recommendation [ 71 , 81 ], discussed vaccines more often [ 115 ], and perceived greater vaccine utility [ 94 ].…”

“…Attitudes varied across vaccines and countries. Approximately 70% of Italian pediatricians deemed the HPV vaccine useful [ 81 ] and 60% considered the 4CMenB vaccine useful [ 93 ]. About 77% of French physicians reported no doubts about HPV vaccine efficacy [ 54 ], and 94% of American obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) were confident in the vaccine’s safety and efficacy [ 45 ].…”

“…The majority of the included studies employed single-item questions, summary scores [ 111 ], or preexisting scales [ 79 ], such as MoVac-flu and MovAd scales, for vaccination acceptance and engagement [ 51 ] and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control [ 91 ]. Others used Likert scales to report the level of agreement with beliefs [ 50 , 72 , 75 , 93 , 94 , 96 , 99 , 107 , 122 , 127 ], such as 4CMenB vaccine safety [ 93 ], normative beliefs about perinatal pertussis [ 122 ] and HPV [ 50 ], disease risk [ 96 ], and vaccine utility [ 75 , 93 ]. Two studies grouped the respondents based on patterns in their response to attitude-related questions [ 51 , 124 ].…”

“…Actual recommendation, intended recommendation, or provision of vaccine were associated with viewing a vaccine as necessary (OR = 2.54) [ 87 ], useful (OR = 2.01–4.04) [ 39 , 79 , 81 , 92 , 93 ], and important [ 88 ]. Providers perceiving more “enabling than impeding factors” [ 35 ] or identifying fewer vaccination barriers were more likely to support vaccination [ 50 , 52 ].…”

Pediatric nurses in pediatricians’ offices: a survey for primary care pediatricians

“…Nurses’ immunization activities under the responsibility of primary care pediatricians include cooperation in advocating for mandatory vaccines [ 51 ], storage of the medication, parent and child education about the procedure, and performing the vaccination. In particular, those who could administer vaccines rated the role of nurses as more useful for this crucial service, which often requires teamwork to be widely performed [ 52 , 53 ]. Operational support for the pediatrician and the educational role for families about crucial aspects of vaccination, such as the complex issue of vaccine hesitancy, may explain this finding [ 54 ].…”