Table 3. Paediatricians’ attitudes towards vaccination, Italy, 2016 (n = 903) .
| Questionnaire statements |
Completely disagree | Partially disagree | Unsure | Partially agree | Completely agree | Total |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
| Vaccines weaken or overload the immune system | 808 | 91.5 | 35 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.9 | 21 | 2.4 | 11 | 1.2 | 883 |
| It is better for children to develop natural immunity by getting sick rather than to get a vaccine | 707 | 80.2 | 102 | 11.6 | 11 | 1.2 | 49 | 5.6 | 13 | 1.5 | 882 |
| Healthy children do not need to be vaccinated | 835 | 94.7 | 22 | 2.5 | 2 | 0.2 | 7 | 0.8 | 16 | 1.8 | 882 |
| Conditions such as autism and multiple sclerosis may be caused by vaccines | 804 | 91.0 | 39 | 4.4 | 15 | 1.7 | 8 | 0.9 | 18 | 2.0 | 884 |
| Allergies are on the rise because of vaccinations | 743 | 84.3 | 47 | 5.3 | 36 | 4.1 | 30 | 3.4 | 25 | 2.8 | 881 |
| I am afraid that one of my patients may develop a severe adverse reaction following vaccination | 550 | 62.6 | 162 | 18.4 | 39 | 4.4 | 99 | 11.3 | 29 | 3.3 | 879 |
| Children receive too many vaccines | 696 | 79.1 | 64 | 7.3 | 14 | 1.6 | 73 | 8.3 | 33 | 3.8 | 880 |
| Vaccine policy is influenced by financial profits of pharmaceutical companies | 394 | 44.8 | 190 | 21.6 | 88 | 10.0 | 174 | 19.8 | 33 | 3.8 | 879 |
| Childhood vaccines are given too early | 739 | 84.3 | 42 | 4.8 | 21 | 2.4 | 40 | 4.6 | 35 | 4.0 | 877 |
| The frequency of adverse reactions to vaccines is underestimated | 446 | 51.2 | 185 | 21.2 | 78 | 9.0 | 116 | 13.3 | 46 | 5.3 | 871 |
| In the US, paediatricians are increasingly rejecting patients whose parents refuse vaccinations. I agree with this attitude. | 236 | 26.8 | 154 | 17.5 | 54 | 6.1 | 199 | 22.6 | 236 | 26.8 | 879 |
| Vaccination is cost-effective | 128 | 14.8 | 46 | 5.3 | 73 | 8.4 | 122 | 14.1 | 496 | 57.3 | 865 |
| I am favourable to reintroducing mandatory school immunisation requirements | 91 | 10.3 | 77 | 8.7 | 42 | 4.8 | 161 | 18.2 | 512 | 58.0 | 883 |
| Vaccine information provided by health authorities and scientific societies is reliable | 51 | 5.8 | 48 | 5.4 | 20 | 2.3 | 185 | 20.9 | 580 | 65.6 | 884 |
| Vaccines are among the safest and most tested medicinal products | 109 | 2.5 | 45 | 5.1 | 25 | 2.9 | 120 | 13.7 | 576 | 65.8 | 875 |
| The second dose of MMR is useful | 56 | 6.4 | 15 | 1.7 | 16 | 1.8 | 63 | 7.2 | 727 | 82.9 | 877 |
| When children get vaccinated, the whole community benefits | 35 | 4.0 | 2 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.2 | 14 | 1.6 | 829 | 94.0 | 882 |
| If we stop vaccinating. many diseases that have become rare may re-emerge | 2 | 0.2 | 11 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.5 | 22 | 2.5 | 838 | 95.6 | 877 |
| Vaccines are important for my patients’ health | 5 | 0.6 | 3 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.1 | 9 | 1.0 | 867 | 98.0 | 885 |
MMR: measles-mumps-rubella vaccine; US: United States.
Denominators differ for each characteristic as not all paediatricians responded to all questions.