Abstract
Introduction: Under-reported adverse effect following immunization (AEFI) among healthcare workers (HCWs) for various reasons are common. Following the surveillance of AEFI to COVID-19 vaccination national program, it is important to determine the AEFI reporting practices among HCWs. There are limited studies on under-reported AEFI post COVID-19 vaccination among the HCWs in Malaysia. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of under-reported AEFI to COVID-19 vaccination among HCWs in District Health Office (DHO) Bera, the reasons and the associated factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in DHO Bera from 1st November until 31st December 2021. Universal sampling was done. The study tool used was a validated self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected using Google Form application. The prevalence of under-reported AEFI and the reasons were determined using descriptive analysis. Simple and multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the factors associated with under-reported AEFI. p -value less than 0.05 with 95% CI was taken as statistical significance level. Results: Only 190 respondents answering the questionnaire making the response rate was only 50%. Majority of the respondent were Malay (89.5%), below 40 year-old (77.9%), female (71.1%), worked at clinical setting (90.0%) and less than 15 years of services (72.6%). Majority of the respondents (71.1%) developed AEFI and more than half (51%) of the AEFI were local reactions but approximately two-third (67.4%) did not report AEFI. The main reasons for not reporting were the thought that the AEFI was not serious enough to be reported (41.1%) and reporting AEFI may cause unnecessary alarm to the public (4.2%). Gender ( p =0.048) and ethnicity ( p =0.018) were found to be significantly associated with under-reporting AEFI using simple logistic regression. After controlling for other factors, only ethnicity remained significantly associated with under-reporting AEFI with the Malay HCWs were found to be 3 times more likelihood not to report AEFI ( p =0.028). Discussions: This study was conducted during high numbers of cases in COVID-19 pandemic in which the HCWs were having heavy workload and therefore explaining the poor response rate. The majority of AEFI were local reactions, similar with the nationwide findings on AEFI. However, the poor AEFI reporting practices among the HCWs are worrisome as these may reflect their practices in reporting AEFI among the public. Even though the AEFI was mild, it should be emphasized the importance of reporting any AEFI occurrence. Our study showed that there was ethnic disparity in reporting AEFI where the Malay HCWs were 3 times less likely to report AEFI compared to non-Malay. This result was comparable to previous study where different pattern of reporting among white parents than African-American and Hispanic parents were found. However, other factors were found to be not significantly associated with under-reporting AEFI, which was similar with previous studies. Continuous education and clinical audit should be conducted to the HCWs to ensure the AEFI reporting practices improve in the future. Future studies could be conducted in a larger population of HCWs and also to the public as the COVID-19 immunization program had been conducted nationwide.
Links
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-126.pdf
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed1909[...]
BibTeX (Download)
@proceedings{APCPH2022-P-126,
title = {Under-Reported Adverse Effects Following Immunization Post Covid-19 Vaccination Among Healthcare Workers and Its Associated Factors in District Health Office Bera},
author = {Maznun Binti Mat Jidin @ Mohd Tahar and Sakinah Md. Rifin and Aidil Asyraf Bin Mohamed and Yaw Shi Ming and Tiew Kee Fong and Muhammad Azhar Bin Abdul Muhaba},
url = {https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-126.pdf
https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed19095a89ed/Poster-AEFI-PKD-Bera-b9f367b34c8c969873897546550ad0da.pdf},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-02},
urldate = {2022-08-02},
issue = {7},
abstract = {Introduction: Under-reported adverse effect following immunization (AEFI) among healthcare workers (HCWs) for various reasons are common. Following the surveillance of AEFI to COVID-19 vaccination national program, it is important to determine the AEFI reporting practices among HCWs. There are limited studies on under-reported AEFI post COVID-19 vaccination among the HCWs in Malaysia. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of under-reported AEFI to COVID-19 vaccination among HCWs in District Health Office (DHO) Bera, the reasons and the associated factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in DHO Bera from 1st November until 31st December 2021. Universal sampling was done. The study tool used was a validated self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected using Google Form application. The prevalence of under-reported AEFI and the reasons were determined using descriptive analysis. Simple and multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the factors associated with under-reported AEFI. p -value less than 0.05 with 95% CI was taken as statistical significance level. Results: Only 190 respondents answering the questionnaire making the response rate was only 50%. Majority of the respondent were Malay (89.5%), below 40 year-old (77.9%), female (71.1%), worked at clinical setting (90.0%) and less than 15 years of services (72.6%). Majority of the respondents (71.1%) developed AEFI and more than half (51%) of the AEFI were local reactions but approximately two-third (67.4%) did not report AEFI. The main reasons for not reporting were the thought that the AEFI was not serious enough to be reported (41.1%) and reporting AEFI may cause unnecessary alarm to the public (4.2%). Gender ( p =0.048) and ethnicity ( p =0.018) were found to be significantly associated with under-reporting AEFI using simple logistic regression. After controlling for other factors, only ethnicity remained significantly associated with under-reporting AEFI with the Malay HCWs were found to be 3 times more likelihood not to report AEFI ( p =0.028). Discussions: This study was conducted during high numbers of cases in COVID-19 pandemic in which the HCWs were having heavy workload and therefore explaining the poor response rate. The majority of AEFI were local reactions, similar with the nationwide findings on AEFI. However, the poor AEFI reporting practices among the HCWs are worrisome as these may reflect their practices in reporting AEFI among the public. Even though the AEFI was mild, it should be emphasized the importance of reporting any AEFI occurrence. Our study showed that there was ethnic disparity in reporting AEFI where the Malay HCWs were 3 times less likely to report AEFI compared to non-Malay. This result was comparable to previous study where different pattern of reporting among white parents than African-American and Hispanic parents were found. However, other factors were found to be not significantly associated with under-reporting AEFI, which was similar with previous studies. Continuous education and clinical audit should be conducted to the HCWs to ensure the AEFI reporting practices improve in the future. Future studies could be conducted in a larger population of HCWs and also to the public as the COVID-19 immunization program had been conducted nationwide.},
howpublished = {published online at https://apcph.cphm.my},
note = {Type: POSTER PRESENTATION; Organisation: Klinik Kesihatan Triang, Triang, Bera, Pahang; Klinik Kesihatan Bandar 32, Sebertak, Bera, Pahang},
keywords = {AEFI, COVID-19 vaccination, healthcare workers, Under-reported},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}