Barqawi Hiba J, Samara Kamel A, Haddad Enad S, Bakkour Layane M, Amawi Firas B
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Vaccine X. 2024 Feb 1;17:100455. doi: 10.1016/j.jvacx.2024.100455. eCollection 2024 Mar.
Vaccination remains underutilised worldwide with low vaccine uptake rates across the board with many adults remaining unprotected. Across the Arab world, attitudes towards vaccines vary but high rates of vaccine hesitancy have been found. This study aims to explore the adult vaccination attitudes and practices by physicians in the UAE, both before and after the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines.
This cross-sectional, descriptive study used convenience and snowball sampling to collect comprehensive data from UAE physicians. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed in two stages: the first (pre-COVID-19 vaccines) between the months of June and October 2020 and the second between the months of November 2022 and March 2023.
1000 responses, 500 from each time period, were collected. Nearly a third were family physicians or internists with more than 70% of the physicians working in governmental hospitals. 95% agreed that vaccines are safe in both cohorts but 74.4% reported not having enough time to advise about vaccines. 80.8% of physicians in the 2022 cohort reported safety concerns as the most common reason for patients to refuse vaccines. The most recommended vaccines were influenza (68.6%), Hepatitis B (66.0%) and HPV (61.4%), with pneumococcal coming in close at 57.8%. Family medicine physicians showed the highest utilisation of preventive practices across both cohorts. Nearly half of all family medicine physicians did not regularly evaluate both the influenza and general immunisation status of their patients. 54.6% of physicians reported having patients with VPDs in the last five years (not including COVID-19) in 2022.
Physicians have overly positive attitudes, but their practices reflect a more superficial appreciation of vaccines and lack of initiative. Physicians need to adopt a pro-vaccine stance, armed with the proper tools and the right mentality and beliefs.
疫苗接种在全球范围内仍未得到充分利用，疫苗接种率普遍较低，许多成年人仍未得到保护。在整个阿拉伯世界，人们对疫苗的态度各不相同，但已发现疫苗犹豫率很高。本研究旨在探讨阿联酋医生在引入新冠疫苗之前和之后对成人疫苗接种的态度和做法。
这项横断面描述性研究采用便利抽样和滚雪球抽样方法，从阿联酋医生那里收集全面数据。一份自填式问卷分两个阶段发放：第一阶段（新冠疫苗接种前）在2020年6月至10月期间，第二阶段在2022年11月至2023年3月期间。
共收集到1000份回复，每个时间段各500份。近三分之一是家庭医生或内科医生，超过70%的医生在政府医院工作。两组中95%的人都认为疫苗是安全的，但74.4%的人表示没有足够时间就疫苗问题提供建议。2022年组中80.8%的医生报告称，安全担忧是患者拒绝接种疫苗最常见的原因。最常被推荐的疫苗是流感疫苗（68.6%）、乙肝疫苗（66.0%）和人乳头瘤病毒疫苗（61.4%），肺炎球菌疫苗紧随其后，为57.8%。在两个队列中，家庭医学医生的预防措施利用率最高。几乎一半的家庭医学医生没有定期评估患者的流感和一般免疫状况。2022年，54.6%的医生报告称在过去五年里（不包括新冠）有患疫苗可预防疾病的患者。
医生态度过于积极，但他们的做法反映出对疫苗的理解较为肤浅且缺乏主动性。医生需要以正确的工具、心态和信念，采取支持疫苗接种的立场。
