Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Factors influencing nursing students’ intention to accept COVID-19 vaccination – A pooled analysis of seven countries

2021; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1101/2021.01.22.21250321

Evridiki Patelarou, Petros Galanis, Enkeleint A. Mechili, Agathi Argyriadi, Alexandros Argyriadis, Evanthia Asimakopoulou, Stiliana Brokaj, Jorgjia Bucaj, Juan Manuel Carmona‐Torres, Ana Isabel Cobo‐Cuenca, Jakub Doležel, Stefano Finotto, Darja Jarošová, Athina Kalokairinou, Daniela Mecugni, Velide Pulomenaj, Aurela Saliaj, Idriz Sopjani, Majlinda Zahaj, Athina Patelarou,

COVID-19 and Mental Health

Abstract Experiencing the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, high vaccination coverage by a safe and effective vaccine globally would be a great achievement. Acceptance of vaccination by healthcare students is an important issue as they have a key role as future professionals in educating patients, informing and guiding them to the right clinical decision. The aim of this study was to explore the intention of nursing students to get vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2 infection and the factors acting either as motivators or barriers towards vaccination. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 7 countries (Greece, Albania, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic and Kosovo) through a web survey. In total 2249 undergraduate nursing students participated. Forty three point eight percent of students agreed to accept a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, while the acceptance was higher among Italian students. The factors for intention to get vaccinated were male gender (p=0.008), no working experience in healthcare facilities during the pandemic (p=0.001), vaccination for influenza in 2019 and 2020 (p<0.001), trust in doctors (p<0.001), governments and experts (p=0.012), high level of knowledge (p<0.001) and fear of COVID-19 (p<0.001). Understanding of factors that influence students’ decision to accept COVID-19 vaccination could increase the acceptance rate contributing to a management of the pandemic. Highlights Less than half of the sample intended to accept COVID-19 vaccination Factors that influenced nursing students to get vaccinated against COVID-19 were male gender, no working experience in healthcare facilities during the pandemic, vaccination for influenza in 2019 and 2020, trust in doctors, governments and experts, high level of knowledge and fear of COVID-19.