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Advising Vaccinations for the Elderly: a Cross-sectional Survey on Differences Between General Practitioners and Physician Assistants in Germany

Overview
Journal BMC Fam Pract
Publisher Biomed Central
Specialties Health Services
Public Health
Date 2016 Jul 31
PMID 27473612
Citations 12
Authors
Carolina Judith Klett-Tammen
Gerard Krause
Thomas von Lengerke
Stefanie Castell
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Background: In Germany, the coverage of officially recommended vaccinations for the elderly is below a desirable level. It is known that advice provided by General Practitioners and Physician Assistants influences the uptake in patients ≥60 years. Therefore, the predictors of advice-giving behavior by these professions should be investigated to develop recommendations for possible actions for improvement.

Methods: We conducted a postal cross-sectional survey on knowledge, attitudes and advice - giving behavior regarding vaccinations in the elderly among General Practitioners and Physician Assistants in 4995 practices in Germany. To find specific predictors, we performed logistic regressions with non-advising on any officially recommended vaccination or on three specific vaccinations as four separate outcomes, first using all participants, then only General Practitioners and lastly only Physician Assistants as our study population.

Results: Participants consisted of 774 General Practitioners and 563 Physician Assistants, of whom overall 21 % stated to have not advised an officially recommended vaccination in elderly patients. The most frequent explanation was having forgotten about it. The habit of not counselling on vaccinations at regular intervals was associated with not advising any vaccination (OR: 2.8), influenza vaccination (OR: 2.3), and pneumococcal vaccination (OR: 3.1). While more General Practitioners than Physician Assistants felt sufficiently informed (90 % vs. 79 %, p < 0.001), General Practitioners displayed higher odds to not advise specific vaccinations (ORs: 1.8-2.8).

Conclusions: To reduce the high risk of forgetting to advice on vaccinations, we recommend improving and promoting standing recall-systems, encouraging General Practitioners and Physician Assistants to counsel routinely at regular intervals regarding vaccinations, and providing Physician Assistants with better, tailor-made information on official recommendations and their changes.

Citing Articles

Effectiveness of a Program to Raise Awareness About Pneumococcal Vaccination Among Physicians and Patients with Chronic Respiratory Diseases: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Karakurt Z, Yalniz E, Altin S, Oruc O, Uslu O, Veske N Thorac Res Pract. 2024; 25(2):75-81.

PMID: 38454203 PMC: 11114164. DOI: 10.5152/ThoracResPract.2024.23096.

A Nationwide Digital Multidisciplinary Intervention Aimed at Promoting Pneumococcal Vaccination in Immunocompromised Patients.

Shapiro Ben David S, Shamai-Lubovitz O, Mourad V, Goren I, Cohen Iunger E, Alcalay T Vaccines (Basel). 2023; 11(8).

PMID: 37631923 PMC: 10458143. DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11081355.

A complex intervention on vaccination uptake among older adults (≥ 60 years) in Germany - a study protocol with a mixed methods design.

Uthoff S, Zinkevich A, Franiel D, Below M, Splieth H, Iwen J BMC Prim Care. 2023; 24(1):148.

PMID: 37452283 PMC: 10349490. DOI: 10.1186/s12875-023-02101-w.

General Practitioners' Awareness and Perception of Current Pneumococcal Vaccination for Adult Patients with Known Risk Factors in Switzerland: Evidence from a Survey.

Stoffel S, Schwenkglenks M, Mutschler T Vaccines (Basel). 2023; 11(6).

PMID: 37376490 PMC: 10302954. DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11061101.

Understanding Primary Care Physician Vaccination Behaviour: A Systematic Review.

Prieto-Campo A, Garcia-Alvarez R, Lopez-Duran A, Roque F, Herdeiro M, Figueiras A Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(21).

PMID: 36360750 PMC: 9654811. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192113872.

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