Attitudes and factors affecting decision‐making regarding COVID‐19 vaccination among autoimmune rheumatic disease patients

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy is a significant threat to the success of COVID-19 vaccination programs. We aimed to assess attitudes and factors affecting the decision-making vis-à-vis COVID-19 vaccination among patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). A cross-sectional survey of adults with ARDs was conducted between January 2022 and April 2022. All enrolled ARDs patients were asked to answer a questionnaire about their attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Three hundred patients were included with a female-to-male ratio of 2.5:1. The mean age of the patients was 49.2 ± 15.6 years. Around 37% of patients who hesitated to get the COVID-19 vaccination were apprehensive regarding potential adverse events from the vaccine. About 25% (76 cases) were hesitant about vaccination, of which 15% were uncertain about the vaccine's efficacy, and 15% thought the vaccine was unnecessary because they lived in rural areas where they practiced social distancing. "Family role as a non-working member" was the only factor strongly associated with hesitancy for vaccination (odds ratio of 2.42; 95% CI 1.06-5.57). The attitudes to vaccination showed that the patients were concerned about disease flaring and believed all medicine should be stopped before vaccination. Around one-quarter of ARDs sufferers hesitated to get COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, some patients were disinclined to get vaccinated because they were worried about its efficacy and/or associated adverse events. The findings help healthcare providers plan to counter negative attitudes toward vaccination in ARDs patients to protect them during the COVID-19 era.