title: Prevalence and correlates of vaccine hesitancy among general practitioners: a cross-sectional telephone survey in France, April to July 2014.
abstract: This article sought to estimate the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy (VH) among French general practitioners (GPs) and to study its demographic, professional and personal correlates. We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey about GPs' vaccination-related attitudes and practices in 2014 in a national panel of 1,712 GPs in private practice, randomly selected from an exhaustive database of health professionals in France. A cluster analysis of various dimensions of VH (self-reported vaccine recommendations, perceptions of vaccine risks and usefulness) identified three clusters: 86% of GPs (95% confidence interval (CI): 84-88) were not or only slightly vaccine-hesitant, 11% (95% CI: 9-12) moderately hesitant and 3% (95% CI: 3-4) highly hesitant or opposed to vaccination. GPs in the latter two clusters were less frequently vaccinated and reported occasional practice of alternative medicine more often than those in the first cluster; they also described less experience with vaccine-preventable diseases and more experience with patients who they considered had serious adverse effects from vaccination. This study confirms the presence of VH among French GPs but also suggests that its prevalence is moderate. Given GPs' central role in vaccination, these results nevertheless call for a mobilisation of stakeholders to address VH among GPs.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 'Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health and Analysis of Medical Information' (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.|ORS PACA, South-eastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, UMR_S 912, IRD, Marseille, France.|INSERM, F-CRIN, Innovative clinical research network in vaccinology (I-REIVAC), GH Cochin Broca Hôtel Dieu, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verger
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 'Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health and Analysis of Medical Information' (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.|ORS PACA, South-eastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille University, URMITE, IRD 198, UMR CNRS 7278, INSERM 1095, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Collange
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 'Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health and Analysis of Medical Information' (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.|ORS PACA, South-eastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, UMR_S 912, IRD, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fressard
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 'Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health and Analysis of Medical Information' (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.|ORS PACA, South-eastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, UMR_S 912, IRD, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bocquier
authors.affiliation: Santé publique France (the French national public health agency), Saint-Maurice, France.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gautier
authors.affiliation: CHU de Nancy, Service de Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpitaux de Brabois, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France.|Lorraine University, Paris Descartes University, EA 4360 Apemac, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pulcini
authors.affiliation: EHESP, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Rennes, France.|Aix-Marseille University, IRD French Institute of Research for Development, EHESP, UMR_D 190 'Emergence des Pathologies Virales', Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raude
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912 'Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health and Analysis of Medical Information' (SESSTIM), Marseille, France.|ORS PACA, South-eastern Health Regional Observatory, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, UMR_S 912, IRD, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peretti-Watel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D058873:Pandemics / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines
keywords: attitude of health personnel; behavior; cluster analysis; general practice; vaccine hesitancy; vaccines and immunization