Do Pediatricians and Nurses Recommend Vaccines for Preterm Infants? A Survey in Italy

Objective To assess the level of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding vaccination in preterm infants among primary care pediatricians (PCPs) and health care workers (HCWs) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Study design Data were collected from PCPs through a confidential questionnaire distributed by email, whereas the research team distributed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire to all HCWs working in the selected NICUs. Results Overall, 64.1% of HCWs consider vaccines in preterm infants to be very safe. The majority of HCWs (69.8%) stated that they always recommend that preterm infants' parents vaccinate their children following the same schedule as for term infants. This behavior was significantly more likely among those who know that the vaccination schedule for preterm infants is the same as for term infants, who consider vaccines in preterm infants very effective, and who strongly agree that preterm infants should be vaccinated on the same schedule as term infants. Moreover, PCPs were more likely than NICU pediatricians to always recommend that preterm infants' parents vaccinate their children following the immunization schedule of term infants, whereas this behavior was significantly less frequent among NICU nurses. Conclusions There is a need for physicians and nurses in the NICU and in the community to counteract missed or delayed immunizations. Engagement of HCWs in healthcare quality improvement initiatives focused on the promotion of timely vaccinations in preterm infants should be encouraged.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of primary care pediatricians and healthcare workers in neonatal intensive care units regarding vaccination in preterm infants. The results showed that a majority of healthcare workers consider vaccines in preterm infants to be safe and recommend vaccinating them following the same schedule as term infants. Primary care pediatricians were more likely to recommend this compared to NICU pediatricians.