title: Vaccine storage practices and the effects of education in some private medical institutions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although vaccination rates have increased, problems still remain in the storage and handling of vaccines. This study focused on inspecting actual vaccine storage status and awareness, and comparing them before and after education was provided.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the primary inspection, a status survey checklist was completed by visual inspection. A questionnaire on the awareness of proper vaccine storage and handling was also administered to vaccine administrators in private medical institutions in 4 regions in Gyeongsangbuk-province. One-on-one education was then carried out, and our self-produced manual on safe vaccine storage and management methods was provided. In the secondary inspection, the investigators visited the same medical institutions and used the same questionnaire and checklist used during the primary inspection. The results before and after education were compared, by treating each appropriate answer as 1 point.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average checklists score was 9.74 (out of 15 points), which increased significantly after education was provided (by 0.84, p<0.001). The participants demonstrated improved practices in recording storage temperatures (p=0.016), storing vaccines in the center of the refrigerator (p=0.004), storing vaccines with other medication and non-medical items (p=0.031) after education. The average score calculated from the questionnaires was 10.48 (out of 14 points), which increased after education (by 1.03, p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that vaccine storage practices and awareness are inadequate, but can be partially improved by providing relevant education. Repetitive education and policy-making are required to store vaccines safely because one-off education and unenforced guidelines offer limited efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Saerom
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyun-Sul
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Ohyon
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeonggyeong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Yeongsun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyungrae
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Woojin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Kyenam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004356:Drug Storage / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006269:Health Facilities, Proprietary / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014612:Vaccines / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines