Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Center, Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
School of Social Work, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.
Front Public Health. 2023 Jun 27;11:1172642. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1172642. eCollection 2023.
Older adults, particularly those with dementia, are at the greatest risk for being affected by SARS-CoV-2. Despite the Chinese government's efforts to encourage older adults to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the vaccination rate, especially among older adults with dementia, remains low.
This study aimed to examine the willingness and attitudes towards vaccination among guardians of older adults with dementia and to uncover the factors that may have influenced attitudes towards vaccination during the 2022 Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Shanghai, China.
We conducted a cross-sectional study using self-administered anonymous questionnaires to guardians of dementia patients in three settings: psychogeriatric inpatient wards, long-term care facilities, and home settings from April to May 2022. The primary outcome was participants' willingness to allow dementia patients to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with vaccination willingness.
A total of 327 valid questionnaires were collected. The vaccination rate among participants from long-term care facilities (12.9%) was lower than those in the psychiatric ward (19.3%) or community-dwelling settings (27.1%) ( < 0.05). The guardians' primary concern was that vaccination would aggravate the health conditions of dementia patients [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 5.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.86-14.05]. Additionally, negative reports about the vaccination [OR = 3.94; 95% CI: 1.68-9.24], and adverse reactions [OR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.13-5.52] were related to higher odds of vaccine hesitancy.
Our results showed that low vaccination rates in older adults with dementia were mainly due to their guardians' concerns about vaccine safety. Our findings first uncovered the actual SARS-CoV-2 vaccination rates among older adults with dementia and may provide potential interventions to reduce unjustified worries towards vaccination.
老年人，尤其是患有痴呆症的老年人，是受 SARS-CoV-2 影响最大的人群。尽管中国政府努力鼓励老年人接种 SARS-CoV-2 疫苗，但接种率仍然很低，尤其是患有痴呆症的老年人。
本研究旨在调查痴呆症老年人监护人对疫苗接种的意愿和态度，并揭示 2022 年在中国上海 SARS-CoV-2 奥密克戎变异株流行期间影响疫苗接种态度的因素。
我们于 2022 年 4 月至 5 月期间，采用横断面研究，通过自填匿名问卷对三家机构的痴呆症患者监护人进行调查，包括精神科住院病房、长期护理机构和居家环境。主要结局指标为参与者允许痴呆症患者接种 SARS-CoV-2 疫苗的意愿。采用逻辑回归分析来确定与接种意愿相关的因素。
共收集到 327 份有效问卷。长期护理机构（12.9%）的接种率低于精神科病房（19.3%）或社区居住环境（27.1%）（<0.05）。监护人主要担心疫苗接种会加重痴呆症患者的健康状况（调整后的优势比（OR）=5.11；95%置信区间（CI）：1.86-14.05）。此外，负面的疫苗接种报告（OR=3.94；95%CI：1.68-9.24）和不良反应（OR=2.50；95%CI：1.13-5.52）与更高的疫苗犹豫率相关。
我们的研究结果表明，痴呆症老年人的低接种率主要是由于监护人对疫苗安全性的担忧。我们的研究结果首次揭示了痴呆症老年人实际的 SARS-CoV-2 疫苗接种率，并可能为减少对疫苗接种的不合理担忧提供潜在干预措施。
