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Primary care pediatricians' perceptions of vaccine refusal in europe

Zachi Grossman1, Diego van Esso, Stefano Del Torso

  • 1Maccabi Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel. zgrosman@netvision.net.il

The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
|October 16, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Pediatricians estimate low vaccine refusal rates (<1%) and prefer shared decision-making for hesitant parents. This approach respects parental autonomy while promoting informed vaccination choices in pediatric primary care settings.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric primary care
  • Vaccinology
  • Public health

Background:

  • Parental vaccine hesitancy and refusal pose challenges to public health.
  • Understanding pediatricians' perspectives is crucial for addressing vaccine refusal.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess primary care pediatricians' estimations of parental vaccine refusal rates.
  • To explore pediatricians' preferred approaches for managing parents who refuse vaccinations.

Main Methods:

  • An electronic survey was distributed to 395 members of the European Academy of Pediatrics Research in Ambulatory Setting network.
  • A high response rate of 87% was achieved, ensuring robust data collection.

Main Results:

  • 93% of responding pediatricians who vaccinate in their clinics estimated the overall vaccine refusal rate to be less than 1%.
  • 69% of all respondents favored a shared decision-making strategy when encountering parents hesitant about vaccines.

Conclusions:

  • Pediatricians in primary care settings perceive vaccine refusal rates as low.
  • Shared decision-making is the preferred method for addressing parental vaccine hesitancy among surveyed pediatricians.

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