Cargando…

Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022

In 2020, a record number of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) cases was reported in major endemic areas in Germany, i.e., the southern federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. Most cases were unvaccinated. Other tick-borne diseases (TBDs), including Lyme borreliosis and tularemia, are rising, t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Coyer, Liza, Sogan-Ekinci, Aylin, Greutélaers, Benedikt, Kuhn, Julia, Saller, Franziska S., Hailer, Jana, Böhm, Stefanie, Brosch, Rainer, Wagner-Wiening, Christiane, Böhmer, Merle M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10146000/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37110384
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11040961
_version_ 1785034473353510912
author Coyer, Liza
Sogan-Ekinci, Aylin
Greutélaers, Benedikt
Kuhn, Julia
Saller, Franziska S.
Hailer, Jana
Böhm, Stefanie
Brosch, Rainer
Wagner-Wiening, Christiane
Böhmer, Merle M.
author_facet Coyer, Liza
Sogan-Ekinci, Aylin
Greutélaers, Benedikt
Kuhn, Julia
Saller, Franziska S.
Hailer, Jana
Böhm, Stefanie
Brosch, Rainer
Wagner-Wiening, Christiane
Böhmer, Merle M.
author_sort Coyer, Liza
collection PubMed
description In 2020, a record number of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) cases was reported in major endemic areas in Germany, i.e., the southern federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. Most cases were unvaccinated. Other tick-borne diseases (TBDs), including Lyme borreliosis and tularemia, are rising, too. Thus, strategies are needed to increase TBE vaccination uptake in risk areas and promote education on TBD prevention. Primary care physicians are key providers of both vaccinations and TBD education. The TBD-Prevention (TBD-Prev) study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of primary care physicians in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria with regard to TBE vaccination and prevention of TBDs and to derive strategies for increasing vaccination rates and improving knowledge about TBE and other TBDs in the population and among primary care physicians. We invited all primary care physicians (N = 14,046) in both states to participate by mail. Using standardized, self-administered questionnaires, available both on paper and online, we asked physicians anonymously about their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors with respect to TBE vaccination and TBD prevention and their need for further information/educational materials. A total of 2321 physicians participated between May and September 2022 (response rate 17%), of whom 1222 (53%) worked in Baden-Wuerttemberg and 1067 (46%) in Bavaria. Among the participating physicians, 56% were male, 71% were >50 years and 51% worked in an individual practice. Furthermore, 91% were aware of the German national vaccination guidelines, and 98% perceived their knowledge of the risks and benefits of vaccination as adequate. A total of 97% offer TBE vaccinations, 67% provide vaccination counselling during initial consultations with new patients and 64% actively remind patients about due vaccinations. In addition, 24% expressed a need for further information materials, mainly traditional, analogue media such as flyers (82%) and posters (50%), and named timeliness, quality assurance, easy comprehensibility and independence from the pharmaceutical industry as the most important characteristics of such materials. Almost all participating physicians reported offering TBE vaccinations and feeling well-informed about TBE vaccination and TBDs. However, active offering of vaccinations and education could be further improved, and additional, low-threshold information materials are needed. Based on these results, we will develop and provide various materials on TBE vaccination and TBDs, in particular flyers and posters, for use by physicians during consultations.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10146000
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-101460002023-04-29 Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022 Coyer, Liza Sogan-Ekinci, Aylin Greutélaers, Benedikt Kuhn, Julia Saller, Franziska S. Hailer, Jana Böhm, Stefanie Brosch, Rainer Wagner-Wiening, Christiane Böhmer, Merle M. Microorganisms Article In 2020, a record number of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) cases was reported in major endemic areas in Germany, i.e., the southern federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. Most cases were unvaccinated. Other tick-borne diseases (TBDs), including Lyme borreliosis and tularemia, are rising, too. Thus, strategies are needed to increase TBE vaccination uptake in risk areas and promote education on TBD prevention. Primary care physicians are key providers of both vaccinations and TBD education. The TBD-Prevention (TBD-Prev) study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of primary care physicians in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria with regard to TBE vaccination and prevention of TBDs and to derive strategies for increasing vaccination rates and improving knowledge about TBE and other TBDs in the population and among primary care physicians. We invited all primary care physicians (N = 14,046) in both states to participate by mail. Using standardized, self-administered questionnaires, available both on paper and online, we asked physicians anonymously about their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors with respect to TBE vaccination and TBD prevention and their need for further information/educational materials. A total of 2321 physicians participated between May and September 2022 (response rate 17%), of whom 1222 (53%) worked in Baden-Wuerttemberg and 1067 (46%) in Bavaria. Among the participating physicians, 56% were male, 71% were >50 years and 51% worked in an individual practice. Furthermore, 91% were aware of the German national vaccination guidelines, and 98% perceived their knowledge of the risks and benefits of vaccination as adequate. A total of 97% offer TBE vaccinations, 67% provide vaccination counselling during initial consultations with new patients and 64% actively remind patients about due vaccinations. In addition, 24% expressed a need for further information materials, mainly traditional, analogue media such as flyers (82%) and posters (50%), and named timeliness, quality assurance, easy comprehensibility and independence from the pharmaceutical industry as the most important characteristics of such materials. Almost all participating physicians reported offering TBE vaccinations and feeling well-informed about TBE vaccination and TBDs. However, active offering of vaccinations and education could be further improved, and additional, low-threshold information materials are needed. Based on these results, we will develop and provide various materials on TBE vaccination and TBDs, in particular flyers and posters, for use by physicians during consultations. MDPI 2023-04-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10146000/ /pubmed/37110384 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11040961 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Coyer, Liza
Sogan-Ekinci, Aylin
Greutélaers, Benedikt
Kuhn, Julia
Saller, Franziska S.
Hailer, Jana
Böhm, Stefanie
Brosch, Rainer
Wagner-Wiening, Christiane
Böhmer, Merle M.
Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022
title Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022
title_full Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022
title_fullStr Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022
title_short Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors regarding Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccination and Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases among Primary Care Physicians in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, May–September 2022
title_sort knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding tick-borne encephalitis vaccination and prevention of tick-borne diseases among primary care physicians in bavaria and baden-wuerttemberg, germany, may–september 2022
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10146000/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37110384
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11040961
work_keys_str_mv AT coyerliza knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT soganekinciaylin knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT greutelaersbenedikt knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT kuhnjulia knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT sallerfranziskas knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT hailerjana knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT bohmstefanie knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT broschrainer knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT wagnerwieningchristiane knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022
AT bohmermerlem knowledgeattitudesandbehaviorsregardingtickborneencephalitisvaccinationandpreventionoftickbornediseasesamongprimarycarephysiciansinbavariaandbadenwuerttemberggermanymayseptember2022