Original researchVaccination and perinatal infection prevention practices among obstetrician–gynecologists☆
Section snippets
Materials and methods
In February 2001, anonymous questionnaires (available upon request) focusing on infectious disease screening, vaccination practices, and attitudes toward current and new vaccines were mailed to two groups of Fellows of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a professional organization with over 43,000 members. The first group, the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network, consisted of ACOG Fellows who volunteer to participate regularly in surveys to help ACOG monitor
Results
Completed surveys were received from 307 Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network members (74%) and 286 nonmembers (44%). Respondents who had not seen obstetric patients in 2000 (two Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network member respondents and eight nonmember respondents) were excluded. In both groups, a majority of respondents were male obstetrician–gynecologists, rather than specialists in either obstetrics or gynecology, and practiced in urban or suburban settings (Table 1). Although
Discussion
Obstetrician–gynecologists can play a key role in protecting women and newborns from vaccine-preventable diseases.11 Although internists, family physicians, and health departments have traditionally been viewed as the primary platform for delivering adult vaccinations, more than half of the ACOG members who responded to our survey considered themselves primary care providers. Only approximately two thirds, however, worked in practices that offered at least one vaccine type, and only 10% worked
Acknowledgements
The authors thank M. Gamble for data management, and A. Benin, S. Bloom, K. Galil, and J. Seward for contributions to the survey and analysis.
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This study was funded in part by Grant MC-00105 from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Maternal and Child Health.