COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease on Biologic Therapies; A cross-sectional study

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundCOVID-19 Vaccinations have been shown to be effective in reducing risk of severe infection, hospitalization, and death. They also have been shown to be safe and effective in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on biologic therapies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of vaccination among patients with IBD on biologic therapies.MethodsA single-center prospective cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care inflammatory bowel disease center. Data from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who attended the gastroenterology infusion clinic from June 1st, 2021 until October 31st, 2021 were retrieved. Patients received infliximab or vedolizumab at least 6 weeks before recruitment were included. The primary outcome was prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination. The secondary outcome was to assess whether prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination differed based sex, age, type of biologic therapy and citizenship status.ResultsThe total number of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients enrolled in the study was 280 (56.0% male and 44.0% female). The median age was 33.2 years and BMI was 24.8 kg/m2. 112 patients with ulcerative colitis (40.0%) and 168 (60.0%) with Crohn’s disease. 117 (41.8%) were vaccinated with either BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and 163 (58.2%) were not vaccinated. Female patients were more likely to receive the vaccine compared to male patients (83.0% vs. 63.8%, p < 0.001). In addition, older patients (above the age 50) were also more likely to receive the vaccine than younger patients, below the age of 50 (95.6% vs 31.2% p< 0.001). Expatriates were more likely to receive the vaccine than citizens (84.8% vs 25.0%, p < 0.001). There was no statistical difference between patients on Infliximab and vedolizumab in terms of prevalence of vaccination (40.0% vs 48.0%, p= 0.34).ConclusionThe overall prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on biologic therapies was lower than the general population and world health organization (WHO) recommendation. Female patients, patients above the age of 50, and expatriates were more likely to be vaccinated. On the other hand, male patients, patients below the age of 50, and citizens were less likely to be vaccinated.