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Pediatricians' preferences for infant meningococcal vaccination
Christine Poulos1, F Reed Johnson1, Girishanthy Krishnarajah2
1RTI Health Solutions, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Summary
Pediatricians strongly prefer infant meningococcal vaccines, prioritizing effectiveness and fewer injections. Most would recommend a vaccine, even with less desirable features, over no infant meningococcal vaccination.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Vaccinology
- Public Health
Background:
- Meningococcal disease poses severe risks, including death and disability.
- Current recommendations target at-risk infants, not universal vaccination.
- Physician and parent preferences will drive uptake of new infant vaccines.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify pediatricians' preferences for key features of hypothetical infant meningococcal vaccines.
- To understand factors influencing pediatrician recommendations for infant meningococcal vaccination.
Main Methods:
- A discrete choice experiment survey was administered to 216 pediatricians.
- Physicians evaluated hypothetical vaccines based on six attributes in trade-off scenarios.
- A random-parameters logit regression model analyzed attribute importance weights.
Main Results:
- Vaccine effectiveness and the number of injections were the most critical factors for pediatricians.
- Age of protection onset and office visit frequency were less influential.
- Booster requirements after five years had the least impact on recommendations.
Conclusions:
- Pediatricians exhibit a strong preference for infant meningococcal vaccination.
- Nearly all surveyed physicians would recommend an infant meningococcal vaccine over no vaccine.
- Vaccine characteristics significantly influence pediatrician recommendation likelihood.
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