Awareness towards Optional Vaccinations among Pre-clinical MBBS Students in a Medical College in Malaysia

Abstract

Background: Optional vaccines are just as important as the mandatory but one may choose to administer them to children, based on doctor’s advice. The utilization of these optional vaccines are low in Malaysia and one of the reasons cited is lack of awareness among parents partially due to lack of adequate information from the heath care workers. Aim: This research aims to study the awareness towards optional vaccinations (Pneumococcal, Influenza, Rotavirus, Hepatitis A and Chicken pox) in Malaysia among Pre-Clinical MBBS students in Royal College of Medicine Perak, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Malaysia (UniKL RCMP). Materials and method: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in February - March 2021. The study population included pre-clinical MBBS students of UniKL Royal College of Medicine Perak. Quota sampling method was done. 116 pre-clinical MBBS students were chosen and an online questionnaire in Google Form was provided to the students to be answered. Analysis was done in Microsoft Excel. Results: Overall, a significant number of the students (75%) were not aware about the optional vaccination in Malaysia. Even though there was no significant difference in the level of awareness between year1 and year 2 MBBS students, the trend was Year 1 students were more aware than the year 2 students. There was also no significant association between the gender and level of awareness towards optional vaccination. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study showed that pre-clinical medical students have significant knowledge gaps towards optional vaccination. This should be addressed early during medical training as this ensures these medical students will become knowledgeable healthcare professionals later, enabling the dissemination of adequate information to the parents.