Negative attitude and low intention to vaccinate universally against varicella among public health professionals and parents in the Netherlands: two internet surveys

van Lier, Alies; Tostmann, Alma; Harmsen, Irene A.; de Melker, Hester E.; Hautvast, Jeannine L. A.; Ruijs, Wilhelmina L. M.

doi:10.1186/s12879-016-1442-1

Table 1 Background characteristics of public health professionals and parents

From: Negative attitude and low intention to vaccinate universally against varicella among public health professionals and parents in the Netherlands: two internet surveys

	Professionals (RPHS & CHC combined)						Parents
	Medical doctors (N = 162)		Nurses (N = 279)		Total (N = 441)		(N = 491)
Background characteristics	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Sex
Male	37	22.8	13	4.7	50	11.3	90	18.3
Female	125	77.2	266	95.3	391	88.7	401	81.7
Age
Younger than 30 years	8	5.0	30	10.9	38	8.7	94	19.1
30–34 years	16	9.9	32	11.6	48	11.0	189	38.5
35–39 years	16	9.9	26	9.4	42	9.6	148	30.1
40 years or older	121	75.2	188	68.1	309	70.7	60	12.2
Organisation
Regional Public Health Service (RPHS)	74	45.7	107	38.4	181	41.0	-	-
Child Health Clinic (CHC)	88	54.3	172	61.6	260	59.0	-	-
Education^c
Low	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	51	10.4
Middle	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	166	33.8
High	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	274	55.8
Ethnicity
Both parents born in the Netherlands	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	423	86.3
At least one parent born in another country	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	67	13.7
Net monthly household income
Low (≤ €1150)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	18	4.4
Middle (€1151–€3050)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	191	47.2
High (≥ €3051)	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	196	48.4
No answer	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	86
Household size
< 4 persons	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	163	33.2
4 persons	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	228	46.4
> 4 persons	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	100	20.4
Number of children
None	31	19.1	73	26.2	104	23.6	-	-
One child	15	9.3	30	10.8	45	10.2	160	32.6
Two children	48	29.6	104	37.3	152	34.5	234	47.7
More than two children	68	42.0	72	25.8	140	31.7	97	19.8
Participation of child(ren) in NIP?
Yes, fully immunised	124	96.1	185	90.7	309	92.8	465	94.7
Yes, partially immunised	4	3.1	19	9.3	23	6.9	13	2.6
No, not immunised	1	0.8	0	0.0	1	0.3	10	2.0
Don’t know	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	3	0.6
Change in opinion on vaccination?^a
No	126	77.8	231	83.1	357	81.1	420	85.5
Yes, more inclined	14	8.6	16	5.8	30	6.8	9	1.8
Yes, less inclined	11	6.8	14	5.0	25	5.7	47	9.6
Don’t know	11	6.8	17	6.1	28	6.4	15	3.1
Influence on opinion on vaccination?
Anthroposophical philosophy	1	0.6	7	2.6	8	1.9	8	1.6^b
Homeopathic philosophy	0	0.0	3	1.1	3	0.7	16	3.3^b
Alternative medicine	0	0.0	2	0.7	2	0.5	10	2.0^b
Religion	1	0.6	3	1.1	4	0.9	26	5.3^b
Other	13	8.3	19	6.9	32	7.4	29	5.9^b
None of the above	141	90.4	240	87.6	381	88.6	417	84.9^b

RPHS = regional public health service; CHC = child health clinic
^aWith respect to the five years preceding the survey
^bPercentages add up to more than 100 % because a respondent can be within multiple categories
^cLow: no, primary, lower vocational or lower secondary education; middle: secondary vocational or higher secondary education; high: higher professional or university education

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