Table 1.
Healthcare workers' characteristics and self-reported willingness to accept smallpox immunization
| Total | By expressed willingness to be immunized | ||||||
| Yes/probably | Probably not/no/ don't know |
||||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | p-value* | |
| All | 1165 | 100 % | 708 | 61% | 450 | 39% | |
| Perceived risk of attack | <0.0001 | ||||||
| High/intermediate | 610 | 53% | 422 | 70% | 184 | 30% | |
| Low/next to zero | 400 | 35% | 185 | 47% | 212 | 53% | |
| Can't guess | 144 | 12% | 95 | 66% | 49 | 34% | |
| Region | 0.03 | ||||||
| Northeast (9 hospitals) | 503 | 43% | 278 | 56% | 222 | 44% | |
| Mid-Atlantic & Southeast (8 hospitals) | 317 | 27% | 205 | 65% | 111 | 35% | |
| Midwest & West (4 hospitals) | 345 | 30% | 225 | 66% | 117 | 34% | |
| Main work area | 0.11 | ||||||
| ED or ED consult | 558 | 48% | 349 | 63% | 208 | 37% | |
| ICU (adult or pediatric) or consult | 434 | 37% | 248 | 57% | 184 | 43% | |
| Other/none specified | 173 | 15% | 111 | 66% | 58 | 34% | |
| Profession | 0.86 | ||||||
| Physician | 351 | 30% | 210 | 61% | 137 | 39% | |
| Non-physician clinician | 642 | 55% | 392 | 61% | 248 | 39% | |
| Other/none specified | 172 | 15% | 106 | 62% | 65 | 38% | |
| Age | 0.41 | ||||||
| Up to 29 | 277 | 24% | 170 | 62% | 106 | 38% | |
| 30–39 | 356 | 31% | 206 | 58% | 147 | 42% | |
| 40–49 | 315 | 27% | 191 | 61% | 121 | 39% | |
| 50 or over | 207 | 18% | 135 | 65% | 72 | 35% | |
| Gender | <0.0001 | ||||||
| Male | 408 | 35% | 257 | 63% | 148 | 37% | |
| Female | 743 | 65% | 440 | 60% | 299 | 40% | |
| Children < 18 at home?** | <0.0001** | ||||||
| Yes | 461 | 41% | 281 | 61% | 177 | 39% | |
| No | 676 | 59% | 413 | 61% | 259 | 39% | |
| Ever vaccinated against smallpox | 0.07 | ||||||
| Yes | 606 | 52% | 384 | 64% | 217 | 36% | |
| No | 418 | 36% | 241 | 58% | 175 | 42% | |
| Not sure | 140 | 12% | 82 | 59% | 58 | 41% | |
| How well informed about risks and benefits of smallpox vaccination | 0.0002 | ||||||
| Very well | 138 | 12% | 98 | 72% | 39 | 28% | |
| Fairly well | 474 | 41% | 304 | 65% | 167 | 35% | |
| Not well | 456 | 39% | 255 | 56% | 198 | 44% | |
| Not at all | 94 | 8% | 50 | 53% | 44 | 47% | |
| How carefully read accompanying smallpox vaccine information sheet** | <0.0001** | ||||||
| Read carefully | 534 | 47% | 326 | 62% | 204 | 38% | |
| Read some parts | 182 | 16% | 111 | 62% | 69 | 38% | |
| Skimmed quickly | 234 | 21% | 150 | 64% | 84 | 36% | |
| Didn't read it | 189 | 17% | 106 | 56% | 83 | 44% | |
NB: Where subtotals do not add to 1,165, this is due to missing answers on the questionnaire. * Adjusted for clustering within hospital and variation in the number of responses per hospital. ** Two variables, children at home and reading the VIS, were statistically significant in the bivariate analysis but were excluded from the multivariate model. Hospital-specific odds ratios for favoring vaccination with children at home compared to without children at home ranged from 0.22 to 5.5, but only one of the 21 was statistically significant (OR 1.14, p=.03). Similarly, on hospital-specific analysis, odds ratios for the various levels of reading the VIS compared to not reading it at all varied from 0.09 (for reading parts of it) to 5.3 (for reading it carefully) and none were statistically significant. We concluded that there was little evidence of a meaningful association and removed both variables from the final multivariate model.