Child health professionals' experiences of the introduction and successful implementation of rotavirus vaccination in Sweden.

Abstract

To explore child health professionals' experiences of the early implementation of the rotavirus vaccination in the two regions that first introduced this vaccination in Sweden. A descriptive and repeated cross-sectional study based on a digital study-specific questionnaire with a baseline in 2014 and with a 2-year follow-up in 2016. The study population consisted of nurses and doctors working in child health centres in the health care regions of Stockholm and Jönköping. In Stockholm, a larger proportion of the respondents (n=355) had concerns in 2014, in comparison with the respondents in Jönköping (n=101), mostly about the vaccination being a new and time-consuming task (60% versus 23%). In 2016, the overall attitude to vaccination was more positive in both regions and the levels of concern about increased workload were reduced (Stockholm, n=519, 39%, versus Jönköping, n=96, 10%). Challenges before and after the introduction in both regions were particularly related to how to give information about the vaccine's potential increased risk of intussusception. The gap between respondents' knowledge, attitudes and concerns pre- and post-vaccination introduction was larger in Stockholm compared to Jönköping. In both regions, overall, the implementation of the rotavirus vaccination was perceived as being easier than expected.