Vaccination Status and Attitudes towards Vaccines in a Cohort of Patients with Celiac Disease
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2022
Citazione:
Vaccination Status and Attitudes towards Vaccines in a Cohort of Patients with Celiac Disease / A. Costantino, M. Michelon, L. Roncoroni, L. Doneda, V. Lombardo, C. Costantino, M. Vecchi, L. Elli. - In: VACCINES. - ISSN 2076-393X. - 10:8(2022), pp. 1199.1-1199.14. [10.3390/vaccines10081199]
Abstract:
(1) Background: The identification of vaccination status and attitudes towards vaccines
among celiac disease (CD) patients is of great importance, but it has not yet been investigated. The
aim of this study was to investigate coverage against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), attitudes
towards vaccinations, and its determinants among CD patients. (2) Methods: An anonymous web-
based validated questionnaire was sent to a mailing list of CD adult patients. Patients were asked
to self-report their previous vaccinations and attitudes towards vaccinations, which were defined
as positive, negative, and partially positive/negative. The influencing factors towards vaccinations
were investigated, and crude and adjusted odds ratios (AdjORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
were calculated. (3) Results: The questionnaire was sent to 412 patients, with a response rate of
31.6% (130 patients, 105 women, median age 40 years, interquartile range 36–51). Patients self-re-
ported vaccination against the following diseases: 73.8% tetanus, 42.3% flu, 20% measles, mumps
and rubella, 19.2% meningitis, and 16.2% pneumococcus. Thirty-two people (24.6%) did not remem-
ber all of their previous vaccinations. In total, 104 (80%) respondents had a positive attitude towards
vaccines, 25 (19.2%) a partially positive/negative one, and 1 a negative one. The determinants sig-
nificantly influencing the positive attitude were being a graduate (AdjORs 7.49) and a belief in the
possible return of VPDs with declining vaccination coverage rates (AdjORs 7.42), while the use of
complementary and alternative medicines (AdjORs 0.11) and past negative experience (AdjORs
0.16) were associated with a negative attitude. (4) Conclusions: Despite four out of five CD patients
showing a strong positive attitude towards vaccinations, one out of five had a partially negative
one. Only a minority (16–20%) reported being vaccinated against some VPDs potentially harmful
to their CD because of hyposplenism, such as meningitis and pneumococcus. The low vaccination
rate against some VPDs, in spite of the 80% of CD patients stating a positive attitude towards vac-
cination, may be explained in part by patients’ vaccine hesitancy and in part by a possible role of
physicians in under-prescribing vaccinations to these patients. These results may be a starting point
for developing specific vaccination campaigns to increase vaccination rates against VPDs in CD
patients.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
vaccines; vaccine hesitancy; celiac disease; coeliac disease; hyposplenism
Elenco autori:
A. Costantino, M. Michelon, L. Roncoroni, L. Doneda, V. Lombardo, C. Costantino, M. Vecchi, L. Elli
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