Understanding Primary Care Physician Vaccination Behaviour: A Systematic Review

Ángela Prieto-Campo, Rosa María García-Álvarez, Ana López-Durán, Fátima Roque, Maria Teresa Herdeiro, Adolfo Figueiras and Maruxa Zapata-Cachafeiro ()
Additional contact information
Ángela Prieto-Campo: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15786 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Rosa María García-Álvarez: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hospital of Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Ana López-Durán: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15786 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Fátima Roque: Research Unit for Inland Development, Polytechnic of Guarda (UDI-IPG), Avenida Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, No. 50, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal
Maria Teresa Herdeiro: Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Adolfo Figueiras: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15786 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Maruxa Zapata-Cachafeiro: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15786 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: Background: Vaccine hesitancy decreases adult vaccination coverage and has been recognized by WHO as a major health threat. Primary care physicians (PCP) play a key role in vaccination by giving vaccine counselling to their patients. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and barriers (KBAB) associated with own vaccination and patient recommendation in primary care physicians. Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were used to search and identify relevant studies based on their title and abstract. In the next step, the full text of each previously selected article was read for eligibility. Articles were selected by two independent reviewers and data extraction was performed using tables. The following information was extracted: methodological characteristics, demographic factors, professional characteristics, and intrinsic or extrinsic factors influencing vaccination or recommendation. Results: Our search yielded 41 eligible papers, data-sources, previous practices, belief in the effectiveness or safety of the vaccine, perceived risk, and trust in health authorities were all shown to be related to own vaccination and patient recommendation. Conclusion: Internet is the main source of information for PCP related to vaccine hesitancy. It is therefore essential to increase the presence and access to pro-vaccination content in this area. In addition, involving PCP in the establishment of vaccination recommendations could improve their credibility in the institutions. On the other hand, training in communication skills and establishing reminder systems could reflect higher vaccination coverage among their patients.

Keywords: vaccination hesitancy; primary care physician; knowledge; perception; attitude; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/13872/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/13872/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:13872-:d:952735

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().