Current practice and attitudes towards vaccination during pregnancy: a survey of GPs across England
Current practice and attitudes towards vaccination during pregnancy: a survey of GPs across England
Background Antenatal vaccines are commonly delivered in primary care, yet the views of GPs regarding these programmes have been neglected in research to date.
Aim To establish the attitudes and current practice of GPs towards antenatal vaccination and their views on the optimal location for delivery of this service.
Design and setting A multicentre online survey questionnaire.
Method A questionnaire was sent to GPs across England between December 2018 and January 2019.
Results The majority of 1586 responders considered antenatal vaccination safe (96% for influenza, 89% pertussis). GPs were significantly less confident in their knowledge of pertussis compared with influenza vaccination (64% versus 80% were confident, P<0.001), and many desired further education (59% versus 48%, P<0.001). Few (37%) discussed vaccination with pregnant women regularly, but most (80%) felt their recommendation would influence decision making. Those with greater confidence in their knowledge of pertussis and influenza vaccination, and who were >2 years since qualifying, discussed vaccination significantly more often (odds ratio [OR] 3.52, P<0.001; OR 2.34, P = 0.001; OR 1.76, P = 0.003, respectively), regardless of whether they routinely saw pregnant women. Most (83%) reported that antenatal vaccination was GP led in their region, yet only 26% thought it should be primarily GP based. GPs expressed disconnect from antenatal care, and many suggested that midwives and/or secondary care should take greater responsibility for the delivery of antenatal vaccination.
Conclusion There is support among GPs to embed vaccination programmes within routine antenatal care. Further educational resources, specifically designed for the needs of GPs, are needed to facilitate opportunistic discussion with pregnant women about vaccination.
Antenatal vaccination, General practitioners, Influenza, Pertussis, Pregnancy, Vaccination
179-185
Wilcox, Christopher
e2c4c36a-e2e5-43a5-9fd6-7198cc15dd53
Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
Jones, Christine E
48229079-8b58-4dcb-8374-d9481fe7b426
1 March 2020
Wilcox, Christopher
e2c4c36a-e2e5-43a5-9fd6-7198cc15dd53
Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
Jones, Christine E
48229079-8b58-4dcb-8374-d9481fe7b426
Wilcox, Christopher, Little, Paul and Jones, Christine E
(2020)
Current practice and attitudes towards vaccination during pregnancy: a survey of GPs across England.
British Journal of General Practice, 70 (692), .
(doi:10.3399/bjgp20x708113).
Abstract
Background Antenatal vaccines are commonly delivered in primary care, yet the views of GPs regarding these programmes have been neglected in research to date.
Aim To establish the attitudes and current practice of GPs towards antenatal vaccination and their views on the optimal location for delivery of this service.
Design and setting A multicentre online survey questionnaire.
Method A questionnaire was sent to GPs across England between December 2018 and January 2019.
Results The majority of 1586 responders considered antenatal vaccination safe (96% for influenza, 89% pertussis). GPs were significantly less confident in their knowledge of pertussis compared with influenza vaccination (64% versus 80% were confident, P<0.001), and many desired further education (59% versus 48%, P<0.001). Few (37%) discussed vaccination with pregnant women regularly, but most (80%) felt their recommendation would influence decision making. Those with greater confidence in their knowledge of pertussis and influenza vaccination, and who were >2 years since qualifying, discussed vaccination significantly more often (odds ratio [OR] 3.52, P<0.001; OR 2.34, P = 0.001; OR 1.76, P = 0.003, respectively), regardless of whether they routinely saw pregnant women. Most (83%) reported that antenatal vaccination was GP led in their region, yet only 26% thought it should be primarily GP based. GPs expressed disconnect from antenatal care, and many suggested that midwives and/or secondary care should take greater responsibility for the delivery of antenatal vaccination.
Conclusion There is support among GPs to embed vaccination programmes within routine antenatal care. Further educational resources, specifically designed for the needs of GPs, are needed to facilitate opportunistic discussion with pregnant women about vaccination.
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Accepted/In Press date: 22 July 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 February 2020
Published date: 1 March 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The study was supported by a British Paediatric Allergy Immunity and Infection Group (BPAIIG) 2017 small grant. BPAIIG had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis/interpretation, report writing, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
© British Journal of General Practice 2020
Keywords:
Antenatal vaccination, General practitioners, Influenza, Pertussis, Pregnancy, Vaccination
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 432890
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/432890
ISSN: 0960-1643
PURE UUID: e0bd0f1d-e4f8-4722-bc9d-01e4ff3a1fac
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Date deposited: 31 Jul 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 08:03
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