COVID Vaccine Information Sources Utilized by Female Healthcare Workers

• Published in: American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM 2022-11, Vol.4 (6), p.100704-100704, Article 100704
• Main Authors: Paul, Rachel, Raghuraman, Nandini, Carter, Ebony B., Odibo, Anthony O., Kelly, Jeannie C., Foeller, Megan E., Perez, Marta J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: coronavirus; COVID-19; immunization; immunization in pregnancy; information sources; Original Research; SARS-CoV-2; social media; vaccine campaign; vaccine information
• ISSN: 2589-9333; 2589-9333
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2022.100704

Clinical trials of the messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccines excluded individuals with active reproductive needs (attempting to conceive, currently pregnant, and/or lactating). Women comprise three-quarters of healthcare workers in the United States—an occupational field among the first to receive the vaccine. Professional medical and government organizations have encouraged shared decision-making and access to vaccination among those with active reproductive needs. This study aimed to characterize the information sources used by pregnancy-capable healthcare workers for information about the COVID-19 vaccines and to compare the self-reported “most important” source by the respondents’ active reproductive needs, if any. This was a web-based national survey of female, US-based healthcare workers in January 2021. Recruitment was done using social media and subsequent sharing via word of mouth. We classified the respondents into 6 groups on the basis of self-reported reproductive needs as follows: (1) preventing pregnancy, (2) attempting pregnancy, (3) currently pregnant, (4) lactating, (5) attempting pregnancy and lactating, and (6) currently pregnant and lactating. We provided respondents with a list of information sources (friends, family, obstetrician-gynecologists, pediatrician, news, social media, government organizations, their employer, and “other”) and asked respondents which source(s) they used when looking for information about the vaccine and their most important source. We used descriptive statistics to characterize the information sources and compared the endorsement of government organizations and obstetrician-gynecologists, which were the most important information source between reproductive groups, using the chi-square test. The effect size was calculated using Cramér V. Our survey had 11,405 unique respondents: 5846 (51.3%) were preventing pregnancy, 955 (8.4%) were attempting pregnancy, 2196 (19.3%) were currently pregnant, 2250 (19.7%) were lactating, 67 (0.6%) were attempting pregnancy and lactating, and 91 (0.8%) were currently pregnant and lactating. The most endorsed information sources were government organizations (88.7%), employers (48.5%), obstetrician-gynecologists (44.9%), and social media (39.6%). Considering the most important information source, the distribution of respondents endorsing government organizations was different between reproductive groups (P