TY - JOUR
TI - Nocebo-prone behavior associated with sars-cov-2 vaccine hesitancy in healthcare workers
AU - Mitsikostas, D.D.
AU - Aravantinou-Fatorou, K.
AU - Deligianni, C.
AU - Kravvariti, E.
AU - Korompoki, E.
AU - Mylona, M.
AU - Vryttia, P.
AU - Papagiannopoulou, G.
AU - Delicha, E.-M.
AU - Dellis, A.
AU - Tsivgoulis, G.
AU - Dimopoulos, M.A.
AU - Amanzio, M.
AU - Sfikakis, P.P.
JO - Vaccine
PY - 2021
VL - 9
TODO - 10
SP - null
PB - MDPI
SN - 0264-410X
TODO - 10.3390/VACCINES9101179
TODO - analgesic agent;  comirnaty;  SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, adult;  Article;  cross-sectional study;  dizziness;  drug efficacy;  dyspnea;  fatigue;  female;  fever;  headache;  health care personnel;  human;  hypertension;  hypotension;  major clinical study;  male;  mass immunization;  medical staff;  middle aged;  motivation;  myalgia;  nocebo effect;  pain;  physician;  predictive value;  rash;  sensitivity and specificity;  social worker;  tachycardia;  vaccination;  vaccine hesitancy;  vaccinee
TODO - Among healthcare workers (HCWs), SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy may be linked to a higher susceptibility to nocebo effects, i.e., adverse events (AEs) experienced after medical treatments due to negative expectations. To investigate this hypothesis a cross-sectional survey was performed with a self-completed questionnaire that included a tool (Q-No) for the identification of nocebo-prone individuals. A total of 1309 HCWs (67.2% women; 43.4% physicians; 28.4% nurses; 11.5% administrative staff; 16.6% other personnel) completed the questionnaires, among whom 237 (18.1%) had declined vaccination. Q-No scores were ≥15 in 325 participants (24.8%) suggesting nocebo-prone behavior. In a multivariate logistic regression model with Q-No score, age, gender, and occupation as independent variables, estimated odds ratios (ORs) of vaccination were 0.43 (i.e., less likely, p < 0.001) in participants with Q-No score ≥ 15 vs. Q-No score < 15, 0.58 in females vs. males (p = 0.013), and 4.7 (i.e., more likely) in physicians vs. other HCWs (p < 0.001), independent of age, which was not significantly associated with OR of vaccination. At least one adverse effect (AE) was reported by 67.5% of vaccinees, mostly local pain and flu-like symptoms. In a multivariate logistic regression model, with Q-No score, age, gender, and occupation as independent variables, estimated ORs of AE reporting were 2.0 in females vs. males (p < 0.001) and 1.47 in physicians vs. other HCWs (p = 0.017) independently of age and Q-No score, which were not significantly associated with OR of AE. These findings suggest that nocebo-prone behavior in HCWs is associated with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination hesitancy indicating a potential benefit of a campaign focused on nocebo-prone people. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
ER -