Abstract
Background: Vaccination is an important method by which to stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a population. Patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) have unstable immune function and receive immunosuppressive therapy frequently, so they are hardly to make a decision to receive vaccination. Our study investigated the vaccine hesitancy and coping styles in patients with NMOSD to analyze the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and coping styles, and elucidate the factors influencing vaccine hesitancy.Methods: A convenient sampling method was used to recruit participants. The Adult Vaccine Hesitancy Scale and Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire were used to measure the vaccine hesitancy and coping style of the participants. Pearson correlation, multiple stepwise, linear regression, and one-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.Results: A total of 262 NMOSD patients were investigated. The score of vaccine hesitancy in NMOSD patients is lower (21.13 ± 4.355) than 25 points which indicated the patient is not considered to have vaccine hesitancy. The score for vaccine hesitancy was negatively correlated with the confrontation and avoidance coping styles (r = −0.481 and r = 0.423). That adoption of the coping styles of confrontation and avoidance as well as the residence of the patient were predictors of vaccine hesitation in NMOSD patients (R2(adj) = 0.29, P < 0.001). In addition, the vaccine hesitancy scores of NMOSD patients residing in rural areas were significantly higher than those of patients living in urban areas (P < 0.01). Comparing with each level of education, the scores were not statistically significant in vaccine hesitancy and coping styles (P > 0.05).Conclusions: This study reveals that the NMOSD patients is not considered to have vaccine hesitancy, Patients who tend to adopt confrontation and avoidance coping styles have less vaccine hesitancy. Health authorities and medical specialist teams should strengthen effective vaccination information for patients with NMOSD, such as expert consensus or guidelines through various media to help them with decision-making. The significance of vaccination, the safety and side effects of COVID-19 vaccination and predicting of epidemiological trends of COVID-19 should be emphasized. More attention should be paid to NMOSD patients who living in rural areas.
Highlights
The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is an infection disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
The results shows that the total score of the Adult Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (aVHS) in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) patients was 21.13 ± 4.355 points, Following the interpretation of the aVHS score, if the score is lower than 25 points, the respondent is not considered to have vaccine hesitancy [22]
The results showed that education was not a predictor of vaccine hesitation in NMOSD patients, there are many literatures reported that education level could influence on vaccine hesitancy of individuals [27,28,29,30,31]
Summary
The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is an infection disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease. Because of their abnormal immune function, patients with these conditions often are at a high risk of COVID-19 infection [9, 10]. Some studies have shown B-cell inhibitors such as rituximab and azathioprine are often used as a long-term treatment method for the patients with NMOSD [11,12,13,14], which could reduce concentrations of immunoglobulins G and M and increase the risk of COVID-19 infection [9, 15]. Patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) have unstable immune function and receive immunosuppressive therapy frequently, so they are hardly to make a decision to receive vaccination. Our study investigated the vaccine hesitancy and coping styles in patients with NMOSD to analyze the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and coping styles, and elucidate the factors influencing vaccine hesitancy
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