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Table 1 Knowledge, attitude, practice regarding vaccinations in the elderly in general practitioners (GP) and physician assistants (PA)

From: Advising vaccinations for the elderly: a cross-sectional survey on differences between general practitioners and physician assistants in Germany

  

Total, n = 1337

GP, n = 774

PA, n = 563

 
  

No. (%)

No. (%)

No. (%)

p-value*

Outcomes

Not advised at least one recommended vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa

265 (21.5)

201 (26.0)

64 (14.0)

<0.001

Missing

37 (3.0)

16 (2.1)

21 (4.6)

 

Not advised tetanus vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa

90 (7.3)

76 (9.8)

14 (3.1)

<0.001

Not advised influenza vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa

141 (11.5)

113 (14.6)

28 (6.1)

<0.001

Not advised pneumococcal vaccination in the elderly without presence of a contraindicationa

183 (14.9)

148 (19.1)

35 (7.7)

<0.001

KL

Knows official STIKO-recommendations

1235 (92.4)

752 (97.2)

483 (85.8)

<0.001

Missing

33 (2.5)

17 (2.2)

16 (2.8)

 

Feels sufficiently informed regarding vaccinations in adults

1140 (85.3)

696 (89.9)

444 (78.9)

<0.001

Missing

34 (2.5)

19 (2.5)

15 (2.7)

 

Attitudes

Patients should be informed by (multiple answers possible)

    

GP

1308 (97.8)

755 (97.6)

553 (98.2)

0.400

Other physician or specialist

724 (54.2)

451 (58.3)

273 (48.5)

<0.001

PA

921 (68.9)

493 (63.7)

428 (76.0)

<0.001

Health insurance company

873 (65.3)

503 (65.0)

370 (65.7)

0.781

Appreciates it if patients address vaccinations.

1265 (94.6)

746 (96.4)

519 (92.2)

<0.001

Missing

40 (3.0)

21 (2.7)

19 (3.4)

 

Trusts official STIKO-recommendations.

1200 (89.8)

706 (91.2)

494 (87.7)

0.005

Missing

33 (2.5)

20 (2.6)

13 (2.3)

 

Wants more information for patients by public authorities.

686 (51.3)

369 (47.7)

317 (56.3)

0.001

Missing

61 (4.6)

35 (4.5)

26 (4.6)

 

Finds financial compensation for advising and vaccinating sufficient.

195 (14.6)

122 (15.8)

73 (13.0)

<0.001

Missing

90 (6.7)

33 (4.3)

57 (10.1)

 

Wants better information on changes of official recommendations.

880 (65.8)

503 (65.0)

377 (67.0)

0.240

Missing

47 (3.5)

25 (3.2)

22 (3.9)

 

There is often lack of time for vaccinations and advising about them.

373 (27.9)

178 (23.0)

195 (34.6)

<0.001

Missing

33 (2.5)

22 (2.8)

11 (2.0)

 

General objection of vaccinations

13 (1.0)

5 (0.6)

8 (1.4)

0.038

Missing

82 (6.1)

44 (5.7)

38 (6.7)

 

Perceived benefit of all officially recommended vaccines exceeds its potential harms

1034 (77.3)

666 (86.0)

368 (65.4)

<0.001

Missing

52 (3.9)

29 (3.7)

23 (4.1)

 

Perceived benefit of officially recommended influenza-vaccine exceeds its potential harms

1064 (79.6)

640 (82.7)

424 (75.3)

<0.001

Missing

43 (3.2)

31 (4.0)

12 (2.1)

 

Perceived benefit of officially recommended pneumococcal-vaccine exceeds its potential harms

1051 (78.6)

643 (83.1)

408 (72.5)

<0.001

Missing

47 (3.5)

26 (3.4)

21 (3.7)

 

Perceived benefit of officially recommended tetanus-vaccine exceeds its potential harms

1156 (86.5)

724 (93.5)

432 (76.7)

<0.001

Missing

19 (1.4)

0

19 (3.4)

 

Cause that vaccination recommendations are not well implemented

   

<0.001

Physicians

74 (5.5)

51 (6.6)

23 (4.1)

 

Patients

376 (28.1)

162 (20.9)

214 (38.0)

 

Both

757 (56.6)

510 (65.9)

247 (43.9)

 

None of them

89 (6.7)

31 (4.0)

58 (10.3)

 

Missing

41 (3.1)

20 (2.6)

21 (3.7)

 

Likes to counsel about vaccinationsa

1078 (87.6)

683 (88.2)

395 (86.6)

0.299

Missing

27 (2.2)

17 (2.2)

10 (2.2)

 

Practices

Opportunities for vaccinations counselling (multiple answers possible)

    

Patient addresses it

1232 (92.1)

710 (91.7)

522 (92.7)

0.508

Travel plans

1225 (91.6)

701 (90.6)

524 (93.1)

0.103

Preventive checkup

1205 (90.1)

715 (92.4)

490 (87.0)

0.001

Injuries

1198 (89.6)

687 (88.8)

511 (90.8)

0.236

First contact with patient

716 (53.16)

442 (57.1)

274 (48.7)

0.002

Indication of a recall-system

312 (23.3)

170 (22.0)

142 (25.2)

0.164

Routinely at regular intervals

225 (16.8)

124 (16.0)

101 (17.9)

0.354

Source of information regarding vaccines (multiple answers possible)

    

Continuous (online) training

756 (56.5)

464 (59.9)

292 (51.9)

0.003

Professional journals

812 (60.7)

578 (74.7)

234 (41.6)

<0.001

Conferences

354 (26.5)

305 (39.4)

49 (8.7)

<0.001

Pharmaceutical representative

692 (51.8)

359 (46.4)

333 (59.1)

<0.001

Professional association

147 (11.0)

107 (13.8)

40 (7.1)

<0.001

STIKO

1050 (78.5)

662 (85.5)

388 (68.9)

<0.001

  1. GP General Practitioner, PA Physician Assistant, KL Knowledge
  2. *p-values < 0.05 in bold letters (Chi2-Test for differences between GP and PA without missings)
  3. aPA excluded that not reported to be (partly) responsible for vaccination advices in their practice (n = 107)