Vaccine discussions with parents: The experience of Australian paediatricians

Jessica Costa-Pinto; Harold W Willaby; Julie Leask; Nicholas Wood; Helen Marshall; Margie Danchin

doi:10.1111/jpc.13587

Vaccine discussions with parents: The experience of Australian paediatricians

J Paediatr Child Health. 2017 Sep;53(9):855-861. doi: 10.1111/jpc.13587. Epub 2017 May 31.

Authors

Jessica Costa-Pinto¹, Harold W Willaby², Julie Leask², Nicholas Wood³, Helen Marshall^{4

5}, Margie Danchin^{1

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Medicine, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Department of Paediatrics, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁵ Robinson Research Institute and School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 28560731
DOI: 10.1111/jpc.13587

Abstract

Aim: Health-care providers are crucial in maintaining parental confidence in vaccination. Health-care providers are the most commonly accessed resource by parents for vaccine-related information and are highly trusted. We investigated paediatricians' (i) frequency of vaccine discussions; (ii) specific vaccine-related topics discussed; (iii) perceived role in childhood vaccination; (iv) challenges faced when having discussions; (v) confidence in vaccine-related knowledge and communication skills; and (vi) interest in online education and training.

Methods: We invited members of the Australian Paediatric Research Network to complete an online Research Electronic Data Capture survey in 2015-2016.

Results: Of 383 active Australian Paediatric Research Network members, 165 (43%) completed the online survey. A total of 61% reported 'frequently' or 'almost always' having vaccine-related discussions, with 15% 'rarely' having them. 'Lack of time' was the most commonly reported barrier to having vaccine discussions (54%). Vaccine necessity was most commonly discussed (33%), followed by vaccine safety (24%), general vaccine concerns (23%) and catch-up schedules (23%). While only 25% of paediatricians lacked confidence in their vaccine-related knowledge and 11% in their communication skills, most expressed interest in online training to address vaccine knowledge (62%) and communication skills (53%).

Conclusion: Paediatricians play a key role in maintaining public confidence in vaccination. However, opportunities to address concerns are not being maximised by Australian paediatricians. There is a need and desire for training and resources to increase vaccine knowledge and communication skills for paediatricians, to optimise the frequency and effectiveness of vaccine discussions with parents and to ensure ongoing high immunisation coverage rates in Australia.

Keywords: childhood vaccination; paediatricians; parent vaccine attitudes; vaccine hesitancy.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Australia
Communication*
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Immunotherapy, Active / psychology*
Male
Middle Aged
Parents / psychology*
Pediatricians*
Surveys and Questionnaires