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Table 4 Knowledge of public health professionals and parents about varicella zoster virus (VZV)

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)

Questionnaire item

N

%

N

%

N

%

p-value*,**

N

%

p-value*,***

If you never have had varicella, you can not get herpes zostera

          

 Right (correct answer)

102

63.4

91

32.7

193

44.0

<0.0001

30

6.1

<0.0001

 Wrong

50

31.1

124

44.6

174

39.6

 

218

44.4

 

 Don’t know

9

5.6

63

22.7

72

16.4

 

243

49.5

 

If the blisters have dried up, you are no longer infectiousa

          

 Right (correct answer)

155

95.7

264

95.3

419

95.4

1.000

430

87.6

<0.0001

 Wrong

6

3.7

9

3.2

15

3.4

 

21

4.3

 

 Don’t know

1

0.6

4

1.4

5

1.1

 

40

8.1

 

In general, you will get varicella only once in your lifea

          

 Right (correct answer)

145

90.1

220

79.4

365

83.3

0.004

401

81.7

0.546

 Wrong

14

8.7

55

19.9

69

15.8

 

69

14.1

 

 Don’t know

2

1.2

2

0.7

4

0.9

 

21

4.3

 

What percentage of the Dutch population has had varicella before the age of 12 years?a

          

 50 %

3

1.9

15

5.4

18

4.1

 

92

18.7

 

 75 %

42

26.1

129

46.6

171

39.0

 

252

51.3

 

 95 % (correct answer)

114

70.8

133

48.0

247

56.4

<0.0001

147

29.9

<0.0001

 100 %

2

1.2

0

0.0

2

0.5

 

0

0.0

 

How many people visit their general practitioner for varicella in the Netherlands each year?

          

 1 in 5

4

2.5

11

4.0

15

3.4

 

66

13.4

 

 1 in 50

20

12.6

68

24.5

88

20.1

 

160

32.6

 

 1 in 500 (correct answer)

76

47.8

128

46.0

204

46.7

0.765

175

35.6

0.001

 1 in 5000

59

37.1

71

25.5

130

29.7

 

90

18.3

 

How many people are being hospitalised for varicella or its complications in the Netherlands each year?

          

 1 in 50

5

3.1

54

19.5

59

13.5

 

89

18.1

 

 1 in 500

7

4.3

23

8.3

30

6.8

 

77

15.7

 

 1 in 5000

27

16.8

59

21.3

86

19.6

 

139

28.3

 

 1 in 50000 (correct answer)

122

75.8

141

50.9

263

60.0

<0.0001

186

37.9

<0.0001

How many people die due to varicella or its complications in the Netherlands each year?a

          

 Less than 10 (correct answer)

142

88.2

237

85.6

379

86.5

0.471

344

70.1

<0.0001

 10–100

17

10.6

33

11.9

50

11.4

 

129

26.3

 

 100–1000

1

0.6

2

0.7

3

0.7

 

13

2.6

 

 More than 1000

1

0.6

5

1.8

6

1.4

 

5

1.0

 

Knowledge score VZV**** (max. 5 points)

      

<0.0001

  

<0.0001

 Limited knowledge (0–2 points)

6

3.8

55

20.3

61

14.2

 

177

36.0

 

 Moderate knowledge (3 points)

31

19.6

90

33.2

121

28.2

 

209

42.6

 

 Good knowledge (4–5 points)

121

76.6

126

46.5

247

57.6

 

105

21.4

 
  1. RPHS = regional public health service; CHC = child health clinic
  2. *Pearson’s χ2 or Fisher’s exact test; p-values in bold indicate results that are considered statistically significant after correction for multiple testing by the Benjamini–Hochberg method at a false discovery rate of 0.05
  3. **P-value for comparison of the proportion with a correct answer (with the exception of the knowledge score) between medical doctors and nurses
  4. ***P-value for comparison of the proportion with a correct answer (with the exception of the knowledge score) between professionals and parents
  5. ****Knowledge score VZV: sum of the 5 items above with an a where each correct answer was awarded with 1 point, a wrong or missing answer with 0 points
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BMC Infectious Diseases

ISSN: 1471-2334

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