Doctors' Knowledge, Perspectives, and Actions Regarding Vaccinations for Children Those Are Not Included in the Recommended Vaccination Schedule in Saudi Arabia 2024

Abstract

Background: In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health (MOH) provides a recommended vaccination schedule for children, which includes essential vaccines for public health. However, there are vaccines that are not included in this national schedule but may be indicated in certain cases, such as the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, or vaccines for travelers. It is important to understand family doctors' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding these non-scheduled vaccines, as they play a crucial role in vaccination decision-making. The study aims: To assess the knowledge, perspectives, and actions of family doctors regarding vaccines for children not included in the recommended immunization schedule in Saudi Arabia. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between January and March 2024. A sample size is calculated with 5% margin of error and 95% confidence interval; it turns out to be 381. A questionnaire prepared by scanning the literature and including socio-demographic characteristics was presented to the participants. The Likert scale, which includes questions about rotavirus, meningococcal, HPV and vaccines developed for these microorganisms, was administered to physicians either face-to-face or via the internet. The statistical significance level was accepted as P < 0.05, and the SPSS statistical package program was used in the calculations. Results: The mean age of the participating physicians was 37.96 ± 9.3 (min: 25 and max: 68). 50.9% of the physicians were women, 79.8% were married, 85.1% were in the city center, and 62.1% were practicing family medicine as general practitioners. 74.82% of the participating physicians recommend rotavirus and 56.2% HPV vaccines to their patients. 10.6% of the physicians participating in this study did not recommend any of the rotavirus, HPV, meningococcal, influenza and adult pertussis vaccines to their patients. In the evaluation of the reason for this, 58.7% of physicians who did not recommend special vaccines state that they did not recommend vaccines because they are not included in the routine vaccination schedule of the Ministry of Health. Another important reason was that the vaccines are paid (30.4%). To the question of having sufficient information about special vaccines that are not included in the routine vaccination schedule, 26% of the participants stated that they have sufficient knowledge, and 56.5% stated that they have partial knowledge. The Likert knowledge questions total score of those who recommended at least one vaccine to their patients was significantly higher than those who did not recommend it at all. Likert knowledge questions total score of those who had at least one vaccination was significantly higher than those who never had it (P = 0.001). Conclusion: In general, as the level of knowledge about private vaccines decreases, the rates of self-vaccination, recommending it to their patients, and asking it to be included in the national vaccine schedule decrease. For this reason, increasing the knowledge of physicians about vaccines not included in the national vaccination schedule will contribute to the dissemination of vaccines, thus increasing immunity and reducing mortality and morbidity.