Pediatric provider vaccine hesitancy: An under-recognized obstacle to immunizing children

Objective: To describe vaccine attitudes among pediatric healthcare providers attending immunization conferences. Study design: Attendees of 5 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)-sponsored vaccine conferences held between June and November 2013 anonymously completed a questionnaire assessing vaccine attitudes and practices prior to the opening of educational sessions. Pearson's chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests were used to analyze associations between vaccine attitudes, vaccine practices and provider characteristics. Results: 680 providers attending MP-sponsored vaccine conferences were included. 661/666 (99%) enrolled providers state they routinely recommend standard pediatric vaccines, yet, 30 (5%) state that they do not routinely recommend influenza and/or human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. These providers expressed vaccine safety (87/680(13%)) and efficacy (21/680(31%)) concerns and stated belief in vaccine misperceptions: vaccine causes autism (34/668,5%), multiple vaccines at a single visit reduces vaccine efficacy (43/680, 6%) or overwhelms the immune system (63/680, 9%), and administering HPV vaccine will increase the likelihood of unprotected adolescent sexual activity (29/680, 4%). Six percent of providers who do not routinely recommend all pediatric vaccines correctly identified themselves as vaccine hesitant. Conclusion: Vaccine hesitancy is under-recognized among pediatric providers attending MP-sponsored immunization conferences. Educational interventions tailored to address provider vaccine concerns are needed to improve provider vaccine confidence. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.