MacEwan Sarah R, Gaughan Alice A, Dixon Graham N, Olvera Ramona G, Tarver Willi L, Rahurkar Saurabh, Rush Laura J, Schenk Austin D, Stevens Jack, McAlearney Ann Scheck
Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
The Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Jun 22;11(7):1134. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11071134.
The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant risk for immunosuppressed groups such as transplant patients. The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kidney transplant recipients, including their views on COVID-19 vaccination. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from December 2021 to August 2022 with 38 kidney transplant recipients who had an appointment with their transplant care team within the previous 6 months. We used qualitative thematic analysis to characterize the perspectives of interviewees. Regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, most interviewees reported utilizing public health measures such as masking, hand washing, and avoiding crowds to protect themselves against COVID-19. Vaccinated interviewees ( = 31) noted that they chose to receive a COVID-19 vaccine because of their increased risk due to their immunocompromised state. For unvaccinated interviewees ( = 7), reasons for not receiving a COVID-19 vaccine included concerns about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated interviewees expressed concerns about the lack of adequate testing of the vaccine in transplant patients and questioned if the vaccine might have unknown side effects for transplant recipients. Regardless of the vaccination status, most interviewees noted having trust in their healthcare team. Interviewees also described interpersonal tensions that arose during the pandemic, many of which surrounded vaccination and other preventive measures that were important to participants to protect their health. Together, these data demonstrate differing concerns and experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic for vaccinated and unvaccinated transplant recipients. These findings highlight the unique needs of transplant recipients and reveal opportunities to support this vulnerable patient population in efforts to protect their health as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.
新冠疫情给移植患者等免疫抑制群体带来了重大风险。本研究的目的是加深我们对新冠疫情对肾移植受者影响的理解，包括他们对新冠疫苗接种的看法。2021年12月至2022年8月，对38名在过去6个月内与移植护理团队预约的肾移植受者进行了半结构化访谈。我们采用定性主题分析来描述受访者的观点。无论新冠疫苗接种状况如何，大多数受访者都报告采取了诸如戴口罩、洗手和避免人群聚集等公共卫生措施来保护自己免受新冠病毒感染。接种疫苗的受访者（n = 31）指出，由于免疫功能低下状态导致风险增加，他们选择接种新冠疫苗。对于未接种疫苗的受访者（n = 7），未接种新冠疫苗的原因包括对疫苗安全性和有效性的担忧。接种疫苗和未接种疫苗的受访者都对移植患者中疫苗缺乏充分测试表示担忧，并质疑疫苗对移植受者是否可能有未知的副作用。无论疫苗接种状况如何，大多数受访者都表示信任他们的医疗团队。受访者还描述了疫情期间出现的人际紧张关系，其中许多围绕着疫苗接种和其他对参与者保护健康很重要的预防措施。这些数据共同表明，接种疫苗和未接种疫苗的移植受者在新冠疫情方面存在不同的担忧和经历。这些发现突出了移植受者的独特需求，并揭示了在新冠疫情演变过程中支持这一弱势群体保护其健康的机会。
