PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Residents in residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) are at high risk of severe illnesses and mortality, while staff have high exposure to intimate care activities. Addressing vaccine hesitancy is crucial to safeguard vaccine uptake in this vulnerable setting, especially amid a pandemic. In response to this, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to measure the level of vaccine hesitancy and to examine its associated factors among residents and staff in RCHEs in Hong Kong. We recruited residents and staff from 31 RCHEs in July-November 2022. Of 204 residents, 9.8% had a higher level of vaccine hesitancy (scored ≥ 4 out of 7, mean = 2.44). Around 7% of the staff (n = 168) showed higher vaccine hesitancy (mean = 2.45). From multi-level regression analyses, higher social loneliness, higher anxiety, poorer cognitive ability, being vaccinated with fewer doses, and lower institutional vaccination rates predicted residents\' vaccine hesitancy. Similarly, higher emotional loneliness, higher anxiety, being vaccinated with fewer doses, and working in larger RCHEs predicted staff\'s vaccine hesitancy. Although the reliance on self-report data and convenience sampling may hamper the generalizability of the results, this study highlighted the importance of addressing the loneliness of residents and staff in RCHEs to combat vaccine hesitancy. Innovative and technology-aided interventions are needed to build social support and ensure social interactions among the residents and staff, especially amid outbreaks.
摘要：
安老院(RCHE)的居民患严重疾病和死亡的风险很高，而工作人员有很高的接触亲密护理活动。解决疫苗的犹豫对于在这种脆弱的环境中保护疫苗的摄取至关重要，尤其是在大流行期间。对此,我们进行了一项横断面调查，以衡量香港RCHE居民和工作人员对疫苗的犹豫程度，并研究其相关因素。我们在2022年7月至11月从31个RCHE招募了居民和工作人员。204名居民中,9.8%的人有较高的疫苗犹豫水平(7分中≥4分，平均值=2.44)。大约7%的工作人员(n=168)表现出更高的疫苗犹豫(平均=2.45)。从多层次回归分析，更高的社会孤独感，更高的焦虑，认知能力较差，接种疫苗的剂量较少，较低的机构疫苗接种率预示着居民的疫苗犹豫。同样，更高的情感孤独，更高的焦虑，接种疫苗的剂量较少，在较大的RCHE工作，预测了工作人员的疫苗犹豫。尽管对自我报告数据和便利抽样的依赖可能会妨碍结果的概括性，这项研究强调了解决RCHE中居民和工作人员的孤独感对对抗疫苗犹豫的重要性.需要创新和技术支持的干预措施，以建立社会支持并确保居民和工作人员之间的社会互动，尤其是在疫情爆发期间。
