Al-Sanafi Mariam, Sallam Malik
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Farwaniya Hospital, Kuwait City 25210, Kuwait.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, College of Health Sciences, Safat 13092, Kuwait.
Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Jun 25;9(7):701. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9070701.
Acceptance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination appears as a decisive factor necessary to control the ongoing pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are among the highest risk groups for infection. The current study aimed to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among HCWs in Kuwait, with identification of the psychological determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The study was conducted using an online anonymous survey distributed between 18 March 2021 and 29 March 2021. The sampling strategy was convenience-based depending on chain-referral sampling. Psychological determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were assessed using the 5C subscales and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (VCBS). The total number of study participants was 1019, with the largest group being physicians (28.7%), pharmacists (20.2%), dentists (16.7%), and nurses (12.5%). The overall rate for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was 83.3%, with 9.0% who were not willing to accept vaccination and 7.7% who were unsure. The highest rate for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was seen among dentists (91.2%) and physicians (90.4%), while the lowest rate was seen among nurses (70.1%; < 0.001). A higher level of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was found among females, participants with a lower educational level, and HCWs in the private sector. A preference for mRNA vaccine technology and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was found among the majority of participants (62.6% and 69.7%, respectively). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was significantly linked to the embrace of vaccine conspiracy beliefs. The highest 5C psychological predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance were high levels of collective responsibility and confidence, and lower levels of constraints and calculation. The VCBS and 5C subscales (except the calculation subscale) showed acceptable levels of predicting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance based on receiver operating characteristic analyses. The participants who depended on social media platforms, TV programs, and news releases as their main sources of knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines showed higher rates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. An overall satisfactory level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was seen among HCWs in Kuwait, which was among the highest rates reported globally. However; higher levels of vaccine hesitancy were observed among certain groups (females, nurses and laboratory workers, HCWs in the private sector), which should be targeted with more focused awareness programs. HCWs in Kuwait can play a central role in educating their patients and the general public about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination to halt the spread of SARS-CoV-2, considering the high rates of vaccine hesitancy observed among the general public in Kuwait and the Middle East.
接受2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫苗接种似乎是控制当前疫情的一个决定性因素。医护人员是感染风险最高的群体之一。本研究旨在评估科威特医护人员对COVID-19疫苗的接受情况，并确定COVID-19疫苗犹豫的心理决定因素。该研究采用在线匿名调查的方式，于2021年3月18日至2021年3月29日期间进行。抽样策略基于便利抽样，依靠链式推荐抽样。使用5C子量表和疫苗阴谋信念量表（VCBS）评估COVID-19疫苗接受的心理决定因素。研究参与者总数为1019人，其中人数最多的群体是医生（28.7%）、药剂师（20.2%）、牙医（16.7%）和护士（12.5%）。COVID-19疫苗的总体接受率为83.3%，9.0%的人不愿意接种疫苗，7.7%的人不确定。COVID-19疫苗接受率最高的是牙医（91.2%）和医生（90.4%），而最低的是护士（70.1%；P<0.001）。在女性、教育水平较低的参与者以及私营部门的医护人员中，发现对COVID-19疫苗的犹豫程度较高。大多数参与者（分别为62.6%和69.7%）更倾向于mRNA疫苗技术和辉瑞-BioNTech COVID-19疫苗。COVID-19疫苗犹豫与接受疫苗阴谋信念显著相关。COVID-19疫苗接受的5C心理预测因素中，最高的是集体责任感和信心水平较高，以及限制和算计水平较低。根据受试者工作特征分析，VCBS和5C子量表（计算子量表除外）在预测COVID-19疫苗接受方面显示出可接受的水平。依赖社交媒体平台、电视节目和新闻报道作为其关于COVID-19疫苗主要知识来源的参与者，表现出更高的COVID-19疫苗犹豫率。科威特的医护人员对COVID-19疫苗的接受总体水平令人满意，这是全球报告的最高接受率之一。然而，在某些群体（女性、护士和实验室工作人员、私营部门的医护人员）中观察到较高的疫苗犹豫水平，应该针对这些群体开展更有针对性的宣传项目。考虑到科威特和中东地区公众中观察到的高疫苗犹豫率，科威特的医护人员可以在教育患者和公众了解COVID-19疫苗接种的益处以阻止SARS-CoV-2传播方面发挥核心作用。
