Physicians' attitudes and behaviors regarding hepatitis B immunization.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections are a serious health problem in the United States, where approximately 18,000 cases are reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control. Even among health care providers, reported vaccination rates have ranged from 17% to 68%. The purpose of this study was to determine the important factors influencing physicians in an academic medical center to receive the HBV vaccination since the introduction of recombinant yeast-derived vaccines.

Methods: The 1282 house staff and attending physicians in a university medical center were surveyed regarding their HBV vaccination history. The characteristics of vaccinated and nonvaccinated physicians and their attitudes and concerns regarding vaccination were compared.

Results: Of the 813 physicians who responded, 54.0% had been vaccinated. Vaccination rates varied with level of training, from 91.9% among first- and second-year residents to 32.2% among attending physicians. Although physicians in specialties at higher risk for infection were more likely to have been vaccinated, only 40.0% of pathologists and 51.9% of obstetrician-gynecologists reported having been vaccinated. Using multivariate analysis, we found important demographic predictors of HBV vaccination included physician sex and years since graduation, as well as level of training and specialty. Physicians who had been offered the vaccine were more likely to have been vaccinated.

Conclusions: These results show that many physicians in an academic medical center, particularly those at an early stage of their training, have received HBV vaccination. Our results suggest that programs offering hepatitis B vaccinations to physicians can be effective in reducing this group's risk of hepatitis B infections. Special efforts may be necessary to reach physicians who have completed their training.