Trust in veterinarians and association with vaccine information sources and vaccination status among dog and cat owners

Abstract

Objective: To assess pet owners' trust in veterinarians and the connection between pet owners' trust and sources of vaccine information, as well as the association with vaccination status.

Methods: A national survey was administered to 2,853 dog and 1,977 cat owners focused on vaccine behavior. Survey data were analyzed with weighted Poisson (number of sources), logit (veterinarians as primary sources), least-squares (information seeking), and linear probability (vaccination status) models.

Results: Overall, 62.9% of dog and 61.2% of cat owners were classified as trusting their veterinarians. On average, dog owners consulted 2.50 sources about vaccine information; cat owners consulted 2.27 sources. Veterinarians were the most common primary sources of information for 85.4% of dog owners with high levels of trust, but only 62.6% of dog owners with lower levels. This was the case for 83.8% and 56.3% of cat owners. Trust in veterinarians was not associated with the number of sources consulted, but those with higher levels of trust were more likely to list veterinarians as their primary sources. Those with higher levels of trusts were also more likely to seek out information on vaccines. Trust and certain types of information sources like the internet were associated with vaccination status.

Conclusions: Most pet owners trust their veterinarian, but a substantial minority do not. This has important implications for vaccination behavior. Efforts should be made to increase levels of trust.

Clinical relevance: Trust in veterinarians can serve as an important resource to increase vaccinations.

Keywords: cats; dogs; trust; vaccine hesitancy; vaccines.