title: Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviours towards Recommended Vaccinations among Healthcare Workers.
abstract: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are an important group of professionals exposed to biological risk during their work activities. So, the aim of this study is to perform a survey on the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of Italian HCWs towards the vaccinations recommended by the Ministry of Health. A cross-sectional study was carried out during the period September 2014-August 2015 in the Lazio region. The study was conducted by recruiting HCWs and biomedical students. The sample was comprised of 571 responders, of whom 12.4% were physicians, 18.9% were nurses, 34.3% were other HCW, and 34.3% were biomedical students (medical and nurses students). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is perceived as a risk for personal health by 457 (80%) participants; TB is also worrying (434; 76%). Moreover, HBV (70.9%) and tuberculosis (TB) (79.2%) are perceived as a risk for health, while influenza is not considered so by most participants (46.2%). There is an underestimation of the role of influenza, perceived as a risk for 137 respondents (24%). The vaccination rate among these HCWs is highest for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) (82%), and lowest for influenza (28.5%) and varicella (40.3%). The vast majority of responders are in favour of HBV (77.8%) and TB (64.8%) vaccines. For other vaccinations there is less interest (between 33% and 40% for measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis and influenza). This study shows that knowledge of recommended occupational vaccinations is insufficient in HCWs, with few exceptions represented by HBV and TB. There is a need for novel approaches in this field, with the aim of enhancing vaccine coverage among HCW.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy. giuseppe.latorre@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: La Torre
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy. stefaniascalingi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scalingi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy. veronicagarruto11@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Garruto
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy. info@marcosiclari.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siclari
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy. massimiliano.chiarini@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiarini
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy. alice.mannocci@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannocci
keywords: attitude; behaviours; healthcare workers; knowledge; vaccinations