Views of the physicians of different specialities on the vaccination: concerns and expectations

Abstract

Purpose of the study. To study the view of the Irkutsk physicians of different specialities on the vaccination. Materials and methods. We assessed the degree of awareness of 324 physicians of different specialities on the preventive vaccination based on the data of cross-sectional descriptive multicenter research. All the respondents were divided into three groups: group 1 (n = 218) – physicians prescribing vaccination for children (pediatricians, neonatologists); group 2 (n = 54) – physicians prescribing vaccination for adults (general practitioners, obstetricians-gynecologists); group 3 (n = 52) – physicians who can consult on the problems of vaccinations (neurologists and other physicians). Statistical analysis of the research results was carried out using Statistica 6.0. Critical level of statistical significance p assumed equal 0,05. Results. Physicians aged 21 to 50 years old prevailed (251/324 – 77,5%). Pediatricians (89/159 – 56%; χ 2 = 5,94; df = 1; p < 0,05) and neurologists (19/27– 70,4%; χ 2 = 4,46; p < 0,05) state their «sufficient» level of awareness on the vaccination. Obstetricians-gynecologists (28/42 – 66,6%; χ 2 = 4,78; p < 0,05) state their «insufficient» level of awareness on the vaccination. Physicians of group 1 more often inform patients about the importance of vaccination ( χ 2 = 7,9, p < 0.01 and χ 2 = 6,3, p < 0,05, respectively) and consider it necessary to vaccinate children additionally from current infections, unlike physicians of group 2 ( χ 2 = 27,6; df = 1; p < 0,0001). Most of the respondents (211/324 – 65,1%) agree with the necessity of introduction of a law on parental responsibility in case of vaccine-controlled disease for his child. Conclusion. Monitoring the adherence of physicians to immunologic prophylaxis for themselves and their patients will allow timely identification and elimination of emerging contradictions and problems, as well as to maintain a high level of confidence in vaccination among the population.