title: Pandemic influenza (A/H1N1) vaccine uptake among French private general practitioners: a cross sectional study in 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In July, 2009, French health authorities, like those in many other countries, decided to embark on a mass vaccination campaign against the pandemic A(H1N1) influenza. Private general practitioners (GPs) were not involved in this campaign. We studied GPs' pandemic vaccine (pvaccine) uptake, quantified the relative contribution of its potential explanatory factors and studied whether their own vaccination choice was correlated with their recommendations to patients about pvaccination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this cross-sectional telephone survey, professional investigators interviewed an existing panel of randomly selected private GPs (N = 1431; response rate at inclusion in the panel: 36.8%; participation rate in the survey: 100%). The main outcome variable was GPs' own pvaccine uptake. We used an averaging multi-model approach to quantify the relative contribution of factors associated with their vaccination. The pvaccine uptake rate was 61% (95%CI = 58.3-63.3). Four independent factors contributed the most to this rate (partial Nagelkerke's R(2)): history of previous vaccination against seasonal influenza (14.5%), perception of risks and efficacy of the pvaccine (10.8%), opinions regarding the organization of the vaccination campaign (7.1%), and perception of the pandemic's severity (5.2%). Overall, 71.3% (95%CI = 69.0-73.6) of the participants recommended pvaccination to young adults at risk and 40.1% (95%CI = 37.6-42.7) to other young adults. GPs' own pvaccination was strongly predictive of their recommendation to both young adults at risk (OR = 9.6; 95%CI = 7.2-12.6) and those not at risk (OR = 8.5; 95%CI = 6.4-11.4).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that around 60% of French private GPs followed French authorities' recommendations about vaccination of health care professionals against the A(H1N1) influenza. They pinpoint priority levers for improving preparedness for future influenza pandemics. Besides encouraging GPs' own uptake of regular vaccination against seasonal influenza, providing GPs with clear information about the risks and efficacy of any new pvaccine and involving them in the organization of any future vaccine campaign may improve their pvaccine uptake.
authors.affiliation: U912 Sciences Economiques & Sociales de la Santé & Traitement de l'Information Médicale, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Marseilles, France. pierre.verger@inserm.fr
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verger
authors.forename: Rémi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flicoteaux
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwarzinger
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sagaon-Teyssier
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peretti-Watel
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Launay
authors.forename: Remy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sebbah
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Moatti
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058873:Pandemics / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011331:Private Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines