TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge attitude and practice toward pertussis vaccination during pregnancy among pregnant and postpartum Italian women
AU - Agricola, Eleonora
AU - Gesualdo, Francesco
AU - Alimenti, Lia
AU - Pandolfi, Elisabetta
AU - Carloni, Emanuela
AU - D’Ambrosio, Angelo
AU - Russo, Luisa
AU - Campagna, Ilaria
AU - Ferretti, Beatrice
AU - Tozzi, Alberto E.
PY - 2016/8/2
Y1 - 2016/8/2
N2 - In Italy, no specific recommendation toward maternal pertussis immunization during pregnancy has been issued. However, vaccination during pregnancy will be likely integrated in the Italian immunization program in the future. In order to identify barriers to achieving a sufficient vaccination coverage during pregnancy, we investigated knowledge, attitude and practice toward pertussis vaccination during pregnancy through a web-based survey. A total of 343 Italian pregnant women (N = 164) and women in the postpartum period (N = 183) completed the online questionnaire. More than a half of the study population was uncertain regarding the benefits of the vaccination during pregnancy. Only 1.7% of women in the postpartum had received the vaccination during pregnancy, and 21% of pregnant women declared the intention to be vaccinated in pregnancy. Only 34% would accept the vaccination in the current or in a future pregnancy, if recommended by a physician, and a half would remain uncertain. Perceiving the vaccine as harmful for the fetus’ development is associated to a decreased willingness to be vaccinated if recommended by a HCP, both in pregnant women (OR 0.25 p = 0.010 95% CI 0.09-0.72) and in women in the postpartum period (OR 0.32 p = 0.006 95% CI 0.15-0.72). Our study suggests that the vaccination recommendation by physicians might not be sufficient to adequately raise vaccination coverage against pertussis among Italian pregnant women. A combination of educational interventions and tailored communi-cation campaigns could be implemented to promote maternal immunization.
AB - In Italy, no specific recommendation toward maternal pertussis immunization during pregnancy has been issued. However, vaccination during pregnancy will be likely integrated in the Italian immunization program in the future. In order to identify barriers to achieving a sufficient vaccination coverage during pregnancy, we investigated knowledge, attitude and practice toward pertussis vaccination during pregnancy through a web-based survey. A total of 343 Italian pregnant women (N = 164) and women in the postpartum period (N = 183) completed the online questionnaire. More than a half of the study population was uncertain regarding the benefits of the vaccination during pregnancy. Only 1.7% of women in the postpartum had received the vaccination during pregnancy, and 21% of pregnant women declared the intention to be vaccinated in pregnancy. Only 34% would accept the vaccination in the current or in a future pregnancy, if recommended by a physician, and a half would remain uncertain. Perceiving the vaccine as harmful for the fetus’ development is associated to a decreased willingness to be vaccinated if recommended by a HCP, both in pregnant women (OR 0.25 p = 0.010 95% CI 0.09-0.72) and in women in the postpartum period (OR 0.32 p = 0.006 95% CI 0.15-0.72). Our study suggests that the vaccination recommendation by physicians might not be sufficient to adequately raise vaccination coverage against pertussis among Italian pregnant women. A combination of educational interventions and tailored communi-cation campaigns could be implemented to promote maternal immunization.
KW - maternal immunization
KW - Maternal-Child Health Services
KW - Pertussis
KW - pregnancy
KW - Tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine
KW - vaccination
KW - vaccine attitudes
KW - vaccines in pregnancy
KW - vaccines obstetrics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84982245267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84982245267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/21645515.2016.1188242
DO - 10.1080/21645515.2016.1188242
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84982245267
VL - 12
SP - 1982
EP - 1988
JO - Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics
JF - Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics
SN - 2164-5515
IS - 8
ER -