General Practitioners’ Awareness and Perception of Current Pneumococcal Vaccination for Adult Patients with Known Risk Factors in Switzerland: Evidence from a Survey

Abstract

In Switzerland, the National Immunization Advisory Group (NITAG) has formulated recommendations for pneumococcal vaccination among adult risk patients. Little is known about general practitioners’ (GPs’) perception, knowledge, and implementation of these recommendations. Therefore, we investigated GPs’ awareness and drivers of and barriers to pneumococcal vaccination using a cross-sectional web-based survey of GPs. Of the 300 study participants, 81.3% were aware of the recommendations for vaccinating at-risk adult patients, but only 42.7% were aware of all risk groups. The recommendations were perceived by 79.7% as slightly to very complex. Most GPs (66.7%) had good arguments to convince patients to get vaccinated, but only 41.7% reported recognizing patients at risk for pneumococcal disease, and only 46.7% checked their patients’ vaccination status and proposed vaccination if needed. The main reasons for not vaccinating were patients’ refusal (80.1%), lack of reimbursement by the health insurance (34.5%), patients’ fear of side effects (25.1%), and lack of regulatory approval despite the NITAG recommendations (23.7%). Most (77.3%) agreed that the treating chronic disease specialist should recommend the vaccination and 94.7% believed that adult-risk patients would not be aware of their need for pneumococcal vaccinations. Optimal implementation of the recommendations will require addressing knowledge gaps and reported barriers.