Table 1.
Knowledge, attitude, practice regarding vaccinations in the elderly in general practitioners (GP) and physician assistants (PA)
| Total, n = 1337 | GP, n = 774 | PA, n = 563 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. (%) | No. (%) | No. (%) | p-value* | ||
| Outcomes | Not advised at least one recommended vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa | 265 (21.5) | 201 (26.0) | 64 (14.0) | <0.001 |
| Missing | 37 (3.0) | 16 (2.1) | 21 (4.6) | ||
| Not advised tetanus vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa | 90 (7.3) | 76 (9.8) | 14 (3.1) | <0.001 | |
| Not advised influenza vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa | 141 (11.5) | 113 (14.6) | 28 (6.1) | <0.001 | |
| Not advised pneumococcal vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa | 183 (14.9) | 148 (19.1) | 35 (7.7) | <0.001 | |
| KL | Knows official STIKO-recommendations | 1235 (92.4) | 752 (97.2) | 483 (85.8) | <0.001 |
| Missing | 33 (2.5) | 17 (2.2) | 16 (2.8) | ||
| Feels sufficiently informed regarding vaccinations in adults | 1140 (85.3) | 696 (89.9) | 444 (78.9) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 34 (2.5) | 19 (2.5) | 15 (2.7) | ||
| Attitudes | Patients should be informed by (multiple answers possible) | ||||
| GP | 1308 (97.8) | 755 (97.6) | 553 (98.2) | 0.400 | |
| Other physician or specialist | 724 (54.2) | 451 (58.3) | 273 (48.5) | <0.001 | |
| PA | 921 (68.9) | 493 (63.7) | 428 (76.0) | <0.001 | |
| Health insurance company | 873 (65.3) | 503 (65.0) | 370 (65.7) | 0.781 | |
| Appreciates it if patients address vaccinations. | 1265 (94.6) | 746 (96.4) | 519 (92.2) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 40 (3.0) | 21 (2.7) | 19 (3.4) | ||
| Trusts official STIKO-recommendations. | 1200 (89.8) | 706 (91.2) | 494 (87.7) | 0.005 | |
| Missing | 33 (2.5) | 20 (2.6) | 13 (2.3) | ||
| Wants more information for patients by public authorities. | 686 (51.3) | 369 (47.7) | 317 (56.3) | 0.001 | |
| Missing | 61 (4.6) | 35 (4.5) | 26 (4.6) | ||
| Finds financial compensation for advising and vaccinating sufficient. | 195 (14.6) | 122 (15.8) | 73 (13.0) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 90 (6.7) | 33 (4.3) | 57 (10.1) | ||
| Wants better information on changes of official recommendations. | 880 (65.8) | 503 (65.0) | 377 (67.0) | 0.240 | |
| Missing | 47 (3.5) | 25 (3.2) | 22 (3.9) | ||
| There is often lack of time for vaccinations and advising about them. | 373 (27.9) | 178 (23.0) | 195 (34.6) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 33 (2.5) | 22 (2.8) | 11 (2.0) | ||
| General objection of vaccinations | 13 (1.0) | 5 (0.6) | 8 (1.4) | 0.038 | |
| Missing | 82 (6.1) | 44 (5.7) | 38 (6.7) | ||
| Perceived benefit of all officially recommended vaccines exceeds its potential harms | 1034 (77.3) | 666 (86.0) | 368 (65.4) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 52 (3.9) | 29 (3.7) | 23 (4.1) | ||
| Perceived benefit of officially recommended influenza-vaccine exceeds its potential harms | 1064 (79.6) | 640 (82.7) | 424 (75.3) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 43 (3.2) | 31 (4.0) | 12 (2.1) | ||
| Perceived benefit of officially recommended pneumococcal-vaccine exceeds its potential harms | 1051 (78.6) | 643 (83.1) | 408 (72.5) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 47 (3.5) | 26 (3.4) | 21 (3.7) | ||
| Perceived benefit of officially recommended tetanus-vaccine exceeds its potential harms | 1156 (86.5) | 724 (93.5) | 432 (76.7) | <0.001 | |
| Missing | 19 (1.4) | 0 | 19 (3.4) | ||
| Cause that vaccination recommendations are not well implemented | <0.001 | ||||
| Physicians | 74 (5.5) | 51 (6.6) | 23 (4.1) | ||
| Patients | 376 (28.1) | 162 (20.9) | 214 (38.0) | ||
| Both | 757 (56.6) | 510 (65.9) | 247 (43.9) | ||
| None of them | 89 (6.7) | 31 (4.0) | 58 (10.3) | ||
| Missing | 41 (3.1) | 20 (2.6) | 21 (3.7) | ||
| Likes to counsel about vaccinationsa | 1078 (87.6) | 683 (88.2) | 395 (86.6) | 0.299 | |
| Missing | 27 (2.2) | 17 (2.2) | 10 (2.2) | ||
| Practices | Opportunities for vaccinations counselling (multiple answers possible) | ||||
| Patient addresses it | 1232 (92.1) | 710 (91.7) | 522 (92.7) | 0.508 | |
| Travel plans | 1225 (91.6) | 701 (90.6) | 524 (93.1) | 0.103 | |
| Preventive checkup | 1205 (90.1) | 715 (92.4) | 490 (87.0) | 0.001 | |
| Injuries | 1198 (89.6) | 687 (88.8) | 511 (90.8) | 0.236 | |
| First contact with patient | 716 (53.16) | 442 (57.1) | 274 (48.7) | 0.002 | |
| Indication of a recall-system | 312 (23.3) | 170 (22.0) | 142 (25.2) | 0.164 | |
| Routinely at regular intervals | 225 (16.8) | 124 (16.0) | 101 (17.9) | 0.354 | |
| Source of information regarding vaccines (multiple answers possible) | |||||
| Continuous (online) training | 756 (56.5) | 464 (59.9) | 292 (51.9) | 0.003 | |
| Professional journals | 812 (60.7) | 578 (74.7) | 234 (41.6) | <0.001 | |
| Conferences | 354 (26.5) | 305 (39.4) | 49 (8.7) | <0.001 | |
| Pharmaceutical representative | 692 (51.8) | 359 (46.4) | 333 (59.1) | <0.001 | |
| Professional association | 147 (11.0) | 107 (13.8) | 40 (7.1) | <0.001 | |
| STIKO | 1050 (78.5) | 662 (85.5) | 388 (68.9) | <0.001 |
GP General Practitioner, PA Physician Assistant, KL Knowledge
*p-values < 0.05 in bold letters (Chi2-Test for differences between GP and PA without missings)
aPA excluded that not reported to be (partly) responsible for vaccination advices in their practice (n = 107)