An instrument to measure psychosocial determinants of health care professionals' vaccination behavior: Validation of the Pro-VC-Be questionnaire. (4th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Verger, Pierre; Fressard, Lisa; Soveri, Anna; Dauby, Nicolas; Fasce, Angelo; Karlsson, Linda; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Schmid, Philipp; Dubé, Eve; Gagneur, Arnaud
• Is Part Of: Expert review of vaccines. Volume 21:Number 5(2022)
• Page Start: 693
• Page End: 709
• Publication Date: 2022-05-04
• Subjects: Health care professionals -- questionnaire validation -- vaccination behaviors -- vaccine confidence -- vaccine hesitancy; Vaccines -- Periodicals; Vaccination -- Periodicals; 615.37205
• DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2022.2046467
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1476-0584

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objectives: The lack of validated instruments assessing vaccine hesitancy/confidence among health care professionals (HCPs) for themselves, and their patients led us to develop and validate the Pro-VC-Be instrument to measure vaccine confidence and other psychosocial determinants of HCPs' vaccination behavior among diverse HCPs in different countries. Methods: Cross-sectional survey in October-November 2020 among 1, 249 GPs in France, 432 GPs in French-speaking parts of Belgium, and 1, 055 nurses in Quebec (Canada), all participating in general population immunization. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the instrument's construct validity. We used HCPs' self-reported vaccine recommendations to patients, general immunization activity, self-vaccination, and future COVID-19 vaccine acceptance to test criterion validity. Results: The final results indicated a 6-factor structure with good fit: vaccine confidence (combining complacency, perceived vaccine risks, perceived benefit-risk balance, perceived collective responsibility), trust in authorities, perceived constraints, proactive efficacy (combining commitment to vaccination and self-efficacy), reluctant trust, and openness to patients. The instrument showed good convergent and criterion validity and adequate discriminant validity. Conclusions: This study found that the Pro-VC-Be is a valid instrument for measuring psychosocial determinants of HCPs' vaccination behaviors in different settings. Its validation is currently underway in Europe among various HCPs in different languages.