Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Piazzale C. Golgi 19, Pavia, 27100, Italy.
Biostatistics and Clinical Trial Center, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Viale Golgi 19, Pavia, 27100, Italy.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Oct 29;24(1):2998. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20468-y.
Vaccination rates are still suboptimal in cancer patients. Oncologists play a central role in recommending vaccines to their patients. Our goal was to investigate vaccine acceptance among cancer patients and understand the factors shaping their choices, thereby aiding physicians in better supporting their patients' vaccination decisions.
We designed a prospective cross-sectional survey exploring vaccination status, attitudes, and reasons for hesitancy towards vaccinations against the main vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) among patients undergoing active cancer treatment. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the proportion of vaccinated subjects in our cohort of cancer patients. The secondary endpoints were to assess the proportion of vaccinated subjects against different types of VPDs: flu, COVID-19, pneumococcal disease, Herpes Zoster (HZ).
Between 12 February and 01 March 2024, a total of three hundred and seventeen patients with cancer were invited to respond to the survey, 309 of whom (97%) agreed to do it. Two hundred seventy-three patients (0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-0.91) had received at least one vaccination. Two hundred thirty-one patients (74.76%) reported that at their first oncology visit their oncologist recommended vaccinations, primarily anti-flu (92.21%) and anti-SARS-CoV-2 (83.55%) vaccinations, while less frequently the anti-pneumococcal (42.42%) and anti-HZ (37%) vaccines were recommended. On the univariate analysis, age over 75 years (p = 0.041), marital status (p = 0.003) and the oncologist's vaccine recommendation during the first visit (p < 0.001) were significantly associated to vaccine acceptance. At the multivariable analysis, these variables were independently associated with vaccine willingness. Overall in our cancer population, the two main reasons for vaccine hesitancy were the lack of recommendation by the oncologist (55.41%, n = 128) and the lack of awareness of the importance of vaccination in the context of oncological care (49.35%, n = 114).
This survey emphasizes the importance of vaccine counseling by the oncologist to their patients. Oncologists can motivate patients to receive the correct vaccine schedule by addressing doubts and concerns about the potential negative impact of the vaccine on cancer and cancer therapies.
癌症患者的疫苗接种率仍然不理想。肿瘤医生在向患者推荐疫苗方面发挥着核心作用。我们的目标是调查癌症患者对疫苗的接受程度，并了解影响他们选择的因素，从而帮助医生更好地支持患者的疫苗接种决策。
我们设计了一项前瞻性横断面调查，旨在调查正在接受癌症治疗的患者对主要疫苗可预防疾病（VPD）疫苗的接种状况、态度和接种犹豫的原因。主要终点是评估我们癌症患者队列中接种疫苗的患者比例。次要终点是评估针对不同类型 VPD（流感、COVID-19、肺炎球菌病、带状疱疹）的接种疫苗的患者比例。
在 2024 年 2 月 12 日至 3 月 1 日期间，共邀请了 317 名癌症患者参与这项调查，其中 309 名（97%）同意参与。273 名患者（0.88，95%置信区间 [CI] 0.84-0.91）已接种至少一种疫苗。231 名患者（74.76%）报告称，在他们的第一次肿瘤就诊时，他们的肿瘤医生建议接种疫苗，主要是流感（92.21%）和 SARS-CoV-2（83.55%）疫苗，而较少建议接种肺炎球菌（42.42%）和带状疱疹（37%）疫苗。单因素分析显示，年龄超过 75 岁（p=0.041）、婚姻状况（p=0.003）和肿瘤医生在第一次就诊时的疫苗推荐（p<0.001）与疫苗接种意愿显著相关。多变量分析显示，这些变量与疫苗接种意愿独立相关。在我们的癌症患者人群中，疫苗接种犹豫的两个主要原因是肿瘤医生缺乏推荐（55.41%，n=128）和缺乏对疫苗在肿瘤治疗中的重要性的认识（49.35%，n=114）。
这项调查强调了肿瘤医生向患者提供疫苗咨询的重要性。肿瘤医生可以通过解决患者对疫苗接种可能对癌症和癌症治疗产生负面影响的疑虑和担忧，来激励患者接受正确的疫苗接种计划。
