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Health care workers' self-perceived infection risk and COVID-19 vaccine uptake : A mixed methods study

Nyamuryekung'e, Kasusu Klint ; Amour, Maryam ; Mboya, Innocent LU orcid ; Ndumwa, Harrieth ; Kengia, James ; Njiro, Belinda J ; Mhamilawa, Lwidiko ; Shayo, Elizabeth ; Ngalesoni, Frida and Kapologwe, Ntuli , et al. (2023) In PLOS global public health 3(6). p.1-14
Abstract

Vaccination is the most cost-effective way of preventing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) although there was a considerable delay in its institution in Tanzania. This study assessed health care workers' (HCWs) self-perceived infection risk and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. A concurrent embedded, mixed methods design was utilized to collect data among HCWs in seven Tanzanian regions. Quantitative data was collected using a validated, pre-piloted, interviewer administered questionnaire whereas in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) gathered qualitative data. Descriptive analyses were performed while chi-square test and logistic regression were used to test for associations across categories. Thematic analysis was... (More)

Vaccination is the most cost-effective way of preventing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) although there was a considerable delay in its institution in Tanzania. This study assessed health care workers' (HCWs) self-perceived infection risk and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. A concurrent embedded, mixed methods design was utilized to collect data among HCWs in seven Tanzanian regions. Quantitative data was collected using a validated, pre-piloted, interviewer administered questionnaire whereas in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) gathered qualitative data. Descriptive analyses were performed while chi-square test and logistic regression were used to test for associations across categories. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. A total of 1,368 HCWs responded to the quantitative tool, 26 participated in the IDIs and 74 in FGDs. About half of the HCW (53.6%) reported to have been vaccinated and three quarters (75.5%) self-perceived to be at a high risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection. High perceived infection risk was associated with increased COVID-19 vaccine uptake (OR 1.535). Participants perceived that the nature of their work and the working environment in the health facilities increased their infection risk. Limited availability and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was reported to elevate the perceived infection risks. Participants in the oldest age group and from low and mid-level health care facilities had higher proportions with a high-risk perception of acquiring COVID-19 infection. Only about half of the HCWs reported to be vaccinated albeit the majority recounted higher perception of risk to contracting COVID-19 due to their working environment, including limited availability and use of PPE. Efforts to address heightened perceived-risks should include improving the working environment, availability of PPE and continue updating HCWs on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine to limit their infection risks and consequent transmission to their patients and public.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
PLOS global public health
volume
3
issue
6
article number
e0001223
pages
1 - 14
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:37285332
ISSN
2767-3375
DOI
10.1371/journal.pgph.0001223
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Copyright: © 2023 Nyamuryekung’e et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
id
b2753644-2024-4cd2-97e2-ef4ddd599382
date added to LUP
2023-06-09 05:43:54
date last changed
2023-06-09 07:28:07
@article{b2753644-2024-4cd2-97e2-ef4ddd599382,
  abstract     = {{<p>Vaccination is the most cost-effective way of preventing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) although there was a considerable delay in its institution in Tanzania. This study assessed health care workers' (HCWs) self-perceived infection risk and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. A concurrent embedded, mixed methods design was utilized to collect data among HCWs in seven Tanzanian regions. Quantitative data was collected using a validated, pre-piloted, interviewer administered questionnaire whereas in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) gathered qualitative data. Descriptive analyses were performed while chi-square test and logistic regression were used to test for associations across categories. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. A total of 1,368 HCWs responded to the quantitative tool, 26 participated in the IDIs and 74 in FGDs. About half of the HCW (53.6%) reported to have been vaccinated and three quarters (75.5%) self-perceived to be at a high risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection. High perceived infection risk was associated with increased COVID-19 vaccine uptake (OR 1.535). Participants perceived that the nature of their work and the working environment in the health facilities increased their infection risk. Limited availability and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was reported to elevate the perceived infection risks. Participants in the oldest age group and from low and mid-level health care facilities had higher proportions with a high-risk perception of acquiring COVID-19 infection. Only about half of the HCWs reported to be vaccinated albeit the majority recounted higher perception of risk to contracting COVID-19 due to their working environment, including limited availability and use of PPE. Efforts to address heightened perceived-risks should include improving the working environment, availability of PPE and continue updating HCWs on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine to limit their infection risks and consequent transmission to their patients and public.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nyamuryekung'e, Kasusu Klint and Amour, Maryam and Mboya, Innocent and Ndumwa, Harrieth and Kengia, James and Njiro, Belinda J and Mhamilawa, Lwidiko and Shayo, Elizabeth and Ngalesoni, Frida and Kapologwe, Ntuli and Kalolo, Albino and Metta, Emmy and Msuya, Sia}},
  issn         = {{2767-3375}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{1--14}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLOS global public health}},
  title        = {{Health care workers' self-perceived infection risk and COVID-19 vaccine uptake : A mixed methods study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001223}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pgph.0001223}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}