Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Sep 12:12:1447334.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1447334. eCollection 2024.

The impact of vaccine hesitancy on psychological impairment among healthcare workers in a Total Worker Health© approach

Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio #  1   2 , Bianca Ceresi #  1 , Gabriele Arnesano  3 , Alessia Dosi  1 , Mariarita Maimone  3 , Maria Eugenia Vacca  3 , Maria Rosaria Vinci  1 , Vincenzo Camisa  1 , Annapaola Santoro  1 , Massimiliano Raponi  4 , Paola Tomao  5 , Nicoletta Vonesch  5 , Umberto Moscato  3 , Salvatore Zaffina  1 , Guendalina Dalmasso  4
Affiliations

The impact of vaccine hesitancy on psychological impairment among healthcare workers in a Total Worker Health© approach

Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Vaccination practice is a well-known individual protective measure for biological risk in healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic vaccine hesitancy has grown among healthcare workers (HCWs). The study aims to investigate how vaccine hesitancy influences the psychological burden experienced by healthcare workers.

Methods: This study aimed to explore attitudes of HCWs in acceptance or refusal of vaccinations related to the risk of psychological impairment (PI) and describe the associated occupational factors, during the seasonal flu/COVID-19 vaccination campaign of 2022-2023. 302 HCWs were enrolled in the study. A questionnaire was self-administered, including two scales on the risk of psychological impairment (Psychological Injury Risk Indicator, PIRI) and vaccine hesitancy (Adult Vaccine Hesitancy Scale, AVHS).

Results: PIRI scores revealed that 29.8% of participants were at risk of PI. Differences in sex, age, occupational seniority, professional category, and night shifts were found between HCWs at risk of PI and those not at risk. Females registered a four-fold higher risk than males (85.6% vs. 14.4%, χ2 = 4.450, p < 0.05). Nurses were the highest risk category, followed by physicians and technicians (54.4% vs. 30.0% vs. 12.2%, χ2 = 14.463, p < 0.001). 41.7% of participants received the flu vaccination, and 98.9% received the COVID-19 vaccine. HCWs were prone to being vaccinated to protect patients and family members. Conversely, vaccine refusal was attributed to the perception of flu vaccines as not beneficial and COVID-19 contagion at low risk. The latter was more frequently reported for HCWs at risk of PI (16.7% vs. 4.7%, χ2 = 11.882, p = 0.001). Finally, hesitant HCWs were at higher risk of psychological impairment than others.

Discussion: HCWs expressed vaccine acceptance considering their social role in the community as protectors. However, the underestimation of the risk of severity of COVID-19 was more relevant among HCWs at risk of PI than others. Psychological aspects need to be considered by healthcare providers when fighting vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords: COVID-19; flu; mental health; nurse; vaccine acceptance; vaccine refusal.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Fan J, Xu S, Liu Y, Ma X, Cao J, Fan C, et al. . Influenza vaccination rates among healthcare workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating influencing factors. Front Public Heal. (2023) 11:1295464. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1295464, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pilishvili T, Gierke R, Fleming-Dutra KE, Farrar JL, Mohr NM, Talan DA, et al. . Effectiveness of mRNA Covid-19 vaccine among U.S. health care personnel. N Engl J Med. (2021) 385:e90. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2106599, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tavoschi L, Quattrone F, Agodi A, Lopalco PL. Risk of transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases in healthcare settings. Future Microbiol. (2019) 14:9–14. doi: 10.2217/fmb-2018-0236 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schill AL, Chosewood LC. The NIOSH total worker health™ program: an overview. J Occup Environ Med. (2013) 55:S8–S11. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000037 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dubé È, Ward JK, Verger P, Macdonald NE. Vaccine hesitancy, acceptance, and anti-vaccination: trends and future prospects for public health. Annu Rev Public Health. (2021) 42:175–91. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-102240, PMID: - DOI - PubMed

Substances