Vaccination practices among physicians and their children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify vaccination patterns of both general pediatricians and subspe- cialists with regards to their own children and pro- jected progeny. A 14 question survey was sent ran- domly to 1000 members of the Academy of Pediatrics in 2009. Two categories of questions included 1) how physicians with children vaccinated them in the past, and 2) how all respondents would vaccinate a child in 2009. A comparison was made between the answers of general and specialty pediatricians. 582 valid ques- tionnaires were received (58.2% response rate) of which 431 were general pediatricians and 151 sub- specialists. No statistical difference was found be- tween general and specialty pediatricians on how they vaccinated their children up until 2009 (95% vs 93%). When asked about vaccinating a future child, a sig- nificant proportion of respondents would deviate from CDC guidelines, specialists more than general pediatricians (21% vs 9%). Generalists were more likely to give a future child Hepatitis A (OR: 3.6; 95% CI 1.3 - 10.4), Rotavirus (OR: 2.2; 95% CI 1.1 - 4.4), Meningococcal (OR: 9.9; 95% CI 3.3 - 29.9), and in- fluenza (OR: 5.4; 95% CI 1.1 - 26.7) vaccines. Spe- cialists were more likely to postpone MMR vaccine- tion (OR: 4.4 95% CI 2.3 - 8.6). Safety was listed by both groups as the most common reason for altering the recommended immunization schedule. Until 2009, general pediatricians and pediatric specialists have largely adhered to ACIP recommendations, but due to vaccine safety and other concerns, both groups, albeit a higher percentage of specialists, reported greater numbers willing to diverge from these rec- ommendations.