Cross-sectional study on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and determinants in healthcare students: interdisciplinary trainings on vaccination are needed

Abstract

Background To ensure the success of COVID-19 vaccination, public authorities need to have the support of the entire population and build vaccine confidence. Identifying and understanding the determinants of vaccine acceptance is essential for conducting vaccine strategy. The aim was to estimate vaccine hesitancy among healthcare students in France and to investigate the associated factors. Methods A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted in a large French University in greater Paris area, among 4927 healthcare students from the different training courses such as medicine studies, midwifery studies, physiotherapy studies, nurse studies and others health studies. The study was conducted between January 21 and February 8, 2021 based on a questionnaire including 25 single or multiple-choice questions, made using the free software Limesurvey. The link of the questionnaire was distributed to the students by the teachers and the student associations. The SAGE group definition of vaccine hesitancy was used. All estimates were weighted using the gender and training courses category of all healthcare students registered for the 2020–2021 year. Crude and adjusted weighted odds ratio (wOR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were estimated using logistic regression. Results A total of 1465 healthcare students answered. A proportion of 44.5% (95%CI = [41.7–47.3]) of them were considered as hesitant. Women were more hesitant (50.9, 95%CI = [48.0–53.9]) than men (21.6, 95%CI = [15.2–28.0]). Vaccine hesitancy was significantly associated with gender (wOR = 0.27, 95%CI = [0.18–0.39]) and training courses: medical students were less likely to be hesitant than students in the common and first year of several health studies (wOR = 0.48, 95%CI = [0.33–0.70]) while nursing students were more than 5 times more likely to be hesitant (wOR = 5.20, 95%CI = [3.71–7.28]). Students who did an internship during the epidemic (wOR = 0.53, 95%CI = [0.41–0.69]) and who downloaded the mobile contact-tracing mobile app “TousAntiCovid” (wOR = 0.34, 95%CI = [0.26–0.44]) were significantly less likely to be hesitant. Conclusions Overall vaccine hesitancy among healthcare students was high, substantial differences were found between training courses. To reduce these disparities, interdisciplinary lectures on vaccines for all healthcare students may be implemented and evaluated.

How socio-institutional contexts and cultural worldviews relate to COVID-19 acceptance rates: A representative study in Italy

“…First, the path model with domain meanings and other characteristics of respondents as control variables proved to fit the data and this is consistent with Hypothesis 1. More particularly, in line with the descriptive analyses and studies concerning other socio-cultural contexts (gender: Gautier et al, 2022 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ; Zintel et al, 2022 ; age: Reno et al, 2021 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ; education: Moola et al, 2021 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ; see above, “COVID-19 vaccine and hesitancy” section), male, older and higher-educated people proved to be more prone to acceptance than female, younger and less educated people. Yet the size of these effects was quite low, and its statistical significance has to be attributed to the amplitude of the sample.…”

“…First of all, high levels of vaccine hesitancy are present among ethnic minorities ( Paul et al, 2021 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ), especially those characterized by distinct social norms and cultures, as well as low levels of education ( Moola et al, 2021 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ), income ( Jantzen et al, 2022 ; Moola et al, 2021 ), and knowledge of COVID-19 guidelines ( Moola et al, 2021 ), in addition to the choice not to obtain the seasonal flu vaccine ( Nery et al, 2022 ; Sherman et al, 2021 ), the presence of comorbidities ( Nery et al, 2022 ; Reno et al, 2021 ) and, in general, low trust in the healthcare system ( Williams et al, 2021 ) and the safety of the vaccine ( Morales et al, 2022 ). Additionally, women have a greater hesitancy to vaccinate than men ( Gautier et al, 2022 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ; Zintel et al, 2022 ), although this effect is moderated by socio-economic background ( Morales et al, 2022 ). Moreover, vaccine hesitancy is negatively correlated with age ( Reno et al, 2021 ; Robertson et al, 2021 ).…”

Beyond COVID-19: the impact of recent pandemics on medical students and their education: a scoping review

“…However, literature published after completion of this scoping review still demonstrate medical student hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine over concerns such as potential side effects, safety, and efficacy of the newly developed vaccine [ 190–193 ]. In addition, decreased student knowledge regarding vaccines and the COVID-19 vaccine itself was found to be correlated with vaccine hesitancy [ 190 , 191 ]. Future studies could explore this further and directly compare student vaccination knowledge, attitudes, and rates between COVID-19 and prior pandemics.…”

Predicting vaccine hesitancy among parents towards COVID-19 vaccination for their children in Singapore

“…A prospective, anonymous and voluntary electronic survey modified from “Measuring vaccine hesitancy: The development of a survey tool” was used ( 18 , 19 ) ( Supplementary Table ).…”