Barriers towards vaccinations among patients with RMD stratified by willingness to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines
| Characteristic | Vaccination in general | Vaccination against influenza | Vaccination against pneumococci | Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 | ||||||||||||
| Unwilling, N=33* | Probably willing, N=48* | Definitely willing, N=357* | P value† | Unwilling, N=33* | Probably willing, N=48* | Definitely willing, N=357* | P value† | Unwilling, N=33* | Probably willing, N=48* | Definitely willing, N=357* | P value† | Unwilling, N=33* | Probably willing, N=48* | Definitely willing, N=357* | P value† | |
| I lack the knowledge about vaccinations | 7 (21%) | 12 (26%) | 70 (20%) | 0.7 | 5 (16%) | 12 (28%) | 55 (16%) | 0.2 | 10 (32%) | 15 (31%) | 87 (25%) | 0.5 | 13 (41%) | 23 (48%) | 106 (31%) | <0.05 |
| I doubt the effectiveness of vaccination | 2 (6.2%) | 5 (11%) | 18 (5.2%) | 0.3 | 3 (9.7%) | 6 (14%) | 26 (7.8%) | 0.3 | 6 (19%) | 7 (15%) | 11 (3.2%) | <0.001 | 16 (50%) | 21 (44%) | 25 (7.2%) | <0.001 |
| I fear a worsening of my disease if I would get vaccinated | 7 (22%) | 8 (18%) | 35 (10%) | 0.1 | 6 (19%) | 6 (15%) | 40 (12%) | 0.4 | 13 (42%) | 11 (24%) | 27 (7.9%) | <0.001 | 20 (62%) | 21 (46%) | 42 (12%) | <0.001 |
| I have concerns about the safety of vaccination | 7 (21%) | 7 (16%) | 34 (9.9%) | 0.1 | 6 (19%) | 6 (14%) | 31 (9.4%) | 0.1 | 12 (39%) | 13 (28%) | 18 (5.2%) | <0.001 | 24 (75%) | 26 (57%) | 65 (19%) | <0.001 |
| I consider vaccination more dangerous than going through the infection myself | 3 (9.1%) | 4 (8.9%) | 11 (3.2%) | <0.05 | 4 (13%) | 4 (9.8%) | 14 (4.3%) | <0.05 | 6 (20%) | 4 (8.9%) | 10 (2.9%) | <0.001 | 11 (38%) | 10 (22%) | 21 (6.2%) | <0.001 |
| I am so healthy that I will get through the infection just fine | 10 (31%) | 7 (17%) | 89 (26%) | 0.3 | 11 (37%) | 9 (22%) | 93 (29%) | 0.4 | 12 (41%) | 10 (21%) | 82 (24%) | 0.1 | 12 (40%) | 15 (33%) | 80 (24%) | 0.1 |
| My family advised me against the vaccination | 2 (6.1%) | 2 (4.7%) | 11 (3.2%) | 0.4 | 4 (13%) | 1 (2.4%) | 17 (5.2%) | 0.1 | 5 (17%) | 1 (2.2%) | 8 (2.3%) | <0.05 | 6 (21%) | 6 (13%) | 17 (4.9%) | <0.05 |
| My friends advised me against the vaccination | 2 (6.1%) | 2 (4.4%) | 13 (3.8%) | 0.7 | 2 (6.7%) | 2 (5.0%) | 21 (6.4%) | >0.9 | 3 (10%) | 2 (4.4%) | 9 (2.6%) | 0.1 | 10 (32%) | 12 (27%) | 30 (8.7%) | <0.001 |
| My doctor advised me against the vaccination | 0 (0%) | 3 (6.7%) | 7 (2.1%) | 0.1 | 0 (0%) | 4 (10%) | 7 (2.2%) | <0.05 | 1 (3.4%) | 2 (4.5%) | 8 (2.3%) | 0.4 | 3 (10%) | 6 (14%) | 7 (2.1%) | <0.001 |
| My doctor seemed unsure about recommending the vaccination to me | 1 (3.1%) | 2 (4.7%) | 12 (3.6%) | 0.9 | 0 (0%) | 3 (7.7%) | 14 (4.4%) | 0.4 | 1 (3.4%) | 2 (4.4%) | 11 (3.3%) | 0.8 | 4 (14%) | 7 (16%) | 12 (3.6%) | <0.05 |
| I could not be vaccinated by the treating physician | 1 (3.1%) | 3 (7.7%) | 39 (12%) | 0.3 | 0 (0%) | 2 (5.7%) | 38 (12%) | 0.1 | 2 (7.1%) | 4 (9.5%) | 37 (11%) | 0.9 | 5 (18%) | 12 (31%) | 103 (33%) | 0.3 |
| I do not have time to get vaccinated | 3 (9.4%) | 2 (4.3%) | 11 (3.3%) | 0.1 | 3 (10%) | 1 (2.4%) | 11 (3.4%) | 0.2 | 4 (13%) | 3 (6.8%) | 8 (2.4%) | <0.05 | 4 (13%) | 4 (9.3%) | 8 (2.4%) | <0.05 |
| I need more understandable information about the vaccination in order to be able to decide | 8 (26%) | 12 (26%) | 59 (17%) | 0.2 | 8 (27%) | 12 (29%) | 51 (15%) | <0.05 | 10 (34%) | 17 (37%) | 55 (16%) | <0.001 | 16 (55%) | 32 (68%) | 84 (25%) | <0.001 |
| It is too complicated for me to get vaccinated | 5 (16%) | 3 (6.5%) | 9 (2.6%) | <0.05 | 4 (13%) | 4 (9.5%) | 9 (2.7%) | <0.05 | 6 (20%) | 4 (8.7%) | 7 (2.0%) | <0.001 | 8 (27%) | 11 (25%) | 13 (3.8%) | <0.001 |
| I don't want to get vaccinated because there are too many negative things discussed in the media about vaccination | 3 (9.4%) | 4 (8.9%) | 18 (5.2%) | 0.3 | 4 (13%) | 3 (7.1%) | 19 (5.8%) | 0.2 | 7 (23%) | 6 (13%) | 9 (2.6%) | <0.001 | 18 (60%) | 20 (44%) | 14 (4.1%) | <0.001 |
Datan bold indicate significance level
*n (%).
†Pearson’s χ2 test; Fisher’s exact test.
RMD, rheumatic musculoskeletal disease.