TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 vaccination acceptance, safety and side-effects in European patients with severe asthma
AU - Bossios, Apostolos
AU - Bacon, Alison M
AU - Eger, Katrien
AU - Paróczai, Dóra
AU - Schleich, Florence
AU - Hanon, Shane
AU - Sergejeva, Svetlana
AU - Zervas, Eleftherios
AU - Katsoulis, Konstantinos
AU - Aggelopoulou, Christina
AU - Kostikas, Konstantinos
AU - Gaki, Eleni
AU - Rovina, Nikoletta
AU - Csoma, Zsuzsanna
AU - Grisle, Ineta
AU - Bieksiené, Kristina
AU - Palacionyte, Jolita
AU - Ten Brinke, Anneke
AU - Hashimoto, Simone
AU - Mihălţan, Florin
AU - Nenasheva, Natalia
AU - Zvezdin, Biljana
AU - Čekerevac, Ivan
AU - Hromiš, Sanja
AU - Ćupurdija, Vojislav
AU - Lazic, Zorica
AU - Chaudhuri, Rekha
AU - Smith, Steven James
AU - Rupani, Hitasha
AU - Haitchi, Hans Michael
AU - Kurukulaaratchy, Ramesh
AU - Fulton, Olivia
AU - Frankemölle, Betty
AU - Howarth, Peter
AU - Porsbjerg, Celeste
AU - Bel, Elisabeth H
AU - Djukanovic, Ratko
AU - Hyland, Michael E
N1 - Funding Information: Support statement: The SHARP CRC has been supported by financial and other contributions from the following consortium partners: European Respiratory Society, GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development Limited, Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA, Novartis Pharma AG, Sanofi-Genzyme Corporation and Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry. Publisher Copyright: © The authors 2023.
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - BACKGROUND: Vaccination is vital for achieving population immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, but vaccination hesitancy presents a threat to achieving widespread immunity. Vaccine acceptance in chronic potentially immunosuppressed patients is largely unclear, especially in patients with asthma. The aim of this study was to investigate the vaccination experience in people with severe asthma.METHODS: Questionnaires about vaccination beliefs (including the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) scale, a measure of vaccination hesitancy-related beliefs), vaccination side-effects, asthma control and overall safety perceptions following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination were sent to patients with severe asthma in 12 European countries between May and June 2021.RESULTS: 660 participants returned completed questionnaires (87.4% response rate). Of these, 88% stated that they had been, or intended to be, vaccinated, 9.5% were undecided/hesitant and 3% had refused vaccination. Patients who hesitated or refused vaccination had more negative beliefs towards vaccination. Most patients reported mild (48.2%) or no side-effects (43.8%). Patients reporting severe side-effects (5.7%) had more negative beliefs. Most patients (88.8%) reported no change in asthma symptoms after vaccination, while 2.4% reported an improvement, 5.3% a slight deterioration and 1.2% a considerable deterioration. Almost all vaccinated (98%) patients would recommend vaccination to other severe asthma patients.CONCLUSIONS: Uptake of vaccination in patients with severe asthma in Europe was high, with a small minority refusing vaccination. Beliefs predicted vaccination behaviour and side-effects. Vaccination had little impact on asthma control. Our findings in people with severe asthma support the broad message that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and well tolerated.
AB - BACKGROUND: Vaccination is vital for achieving population immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, but vaccination hesitancy presents a threat to achieving widespread immunity. Vaccine acceptance in chronic potentially immunosuppressed patients is largely unclear, especially in patients with asthma. The aim of this study was to investigate the vaccination experience in people with severe asthma.METHODS: Questionnaires about vaccination beliefs (including the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) scale, a measure of vaccination hesitancy-related beliefs), vaccination side-effects, asthma control and overall safety perceptions following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination were sent to patients with severe asthma in 12 European countries between May and June 2021.RESULTS: 660 participants returned completed questionnaires (87.4% response rate). Of these, 88% stated that they had been, or intended to be, vaccinated, 9.5% were undecided/hesitant and 3% had refused vaccination. Patients who hesitated or refused vaccination had more negative beliefs towards vaccination. Most patients reported mild (48.2%) or no side-effects (43.8%). Patients reporting severe side-effects (5.7%) had more negative beliefs. Most patients (88.8%) reported no change in asthma symptoms after vaccination, while 2.4% reported an improvement, 5.3% a slight deterioration and 1.2% a considerable deterioration. Almost all vaccinated (98%) patients would recommend vaccination to other severe asthma patients.CONCLUSIONS: Uptake of vaccination in patients with severe asthma in Europe was high, with a small minority refusing vaccination. Beliefs predicted vaccination behaviour and side-effects. Vaccination had little impact on asthma control. Our findings in people with severe asthma support the broad message that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and well tolerated.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85178371941&origin=inward
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00590-2023
DO - https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00590-2023
M3 - Article
C2 - 38020570
SN - 2312-0541
VL - 9
JO - ERJ open research
JF - ERJ open research
IS - 6
M1 - 00590-2023
ER -