Vaccine hesitancy in cancer patients: A rapid review.
P Butow, J Shaw, N Bartley and 4 others
PMID 36842287WHAT IT FOUND
Cancer patients' vaccine hesitancy varied widely across studies, averaging 38.4%, with most concerns focused on vaccine interactions with treatment.
Patients relied on oncologists for advice, yet webinar evidence was inconsistent, and one large study reported a lower 19% rate.
Key findings
01Reported vaccine hesitancy rates in cancer patients varied widely from 7.3% to 82.1%, with a mean of 38.4% across studies, while the largest study reported 19%.
02The six main concerns identified were vaccine efficacy, safety for cancer patients, general safety, effects on treatment timing and delivery, scientific quality of development, and belief that COVID-19 is benign.
03Willingness to vaccinate was significantly associated with having spoken to an oncology health professional about vaccination or receiving an oncologist recommendation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review used rapid methods, meaning some systematic review steps were streamlined or omitted. Most included studies were cross-sectional surveys using unvalidated, study-developed measures, so hesitancy rates cannot be directly compared across countries. Sample sizes varied greatly from 50 to 21,913, and many studies recruited from single institutions, limiting generalizability. Quality appraisal scores ranged from 0% to 100%, and no studies were excluded for poor quality. There was almost no data on the attitudes or behaviors of oncologists regarding vaccination. Intervention evidence was limited to two small pre-post webinar studies with inconsistent findings and high attrition.
Declared interests
The authors have no interests to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the 38.4% mean hesitancy rate as a stable national figure. This average is calculated from studies using different survey questions, varied vaccination accessibility, and sample sizes ranging from 50 to 21,913. The largest study reported only 19%, and the review notes that conclusions about national differences can be made only with caution.