Positive attitudes of French general practitioners towards A/H1N1 influenza-pandemic vaccination: a missed opportunity to increase vaccination uptakes in the general public?

Michaël Schwarzinger (1, 2) , Pierre Verger (1, 2) , Marc-André Guerville (3) , Catherine Aubry (4) , Sophie Rolland (1, 2) , Yolande Obadia (1, 2) , Jean-Paul Moatti (1)

1 SESSTIM - U912 INSERM - Aix Marseille Univ - IRD - Sciences Economiques et Sociales de la Santé & Traitement de l'Information Médicale
2 ORS PACA
3 Union Régionale des Médecins Libéraux de Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur
4 Union Régionale des Médecins Libéraux des Pays de la Loire

Attitudes of general practitioners (GPs) towards A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination are unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with computer-assisted telephone interviewing in the French Regional Panel of General Practices from June 16 to September 22, 2009. Of 1434 respondents representative of GPs in four French regions, 885 (61.7%) were willing to accept A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination for themselves. The personal history of seasonal flu vaccination was the strongest independent predictive factor of willingness to accept A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination (p<.0001). GPs receiving seasonal vaccines every year were more likely to accept A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination than those who were never vaccinated in the prior 3 years (adjusted OR=4.38; 95% CI, 2.44-4.67). Willingness to accept pandemic vaccination was also significantly associated with being on call for emergencies; positive attitudes towards other protective measures against A/H1N1 influenza virus in the practice; and a higher readiness to provide additional consultations in response to the pandemic. In conclusion, GPs showed a high acceptability of A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination. GPs' involvement in the mass vaccination campaign, which has been neglected by French public health authorities, may have increased uptake rates in the general public.

Mots clés: pandemic vaccination; influenza; healthcare workers; general practice

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Michaël Schwarzinger, Pierre Verger, Marc-André Guerville, Catherine Aubry, Sophie Rolland, et al.. Positive attitudes of French general practitioners towards A/H1N1 influenza-pandemic vaccination: a missed opportunity to increase vaccination uptakes in the general public?: Acceptability of pandemic vaccination among GPs. Vaccine, 2010, 28 (15), pp.2743-8. ⟨10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.01.027⟩. ⟨inserm-00636175⟩