Subjective Feelings of Polish Doctors After Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Subjective Feelings of Polish Doctors after Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine Krzysztof Zdziarski 1, Marek Landowski 2, Paulina Zabielska 1,* and Beata Karakiewicz 1 1 Subdepartment of Social Medicine and Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, 71-210 Szczecin, Poland; [email protected] (K.Z.); [email protected] (B.K.) 2 Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Telecommunications, Maritime University of Szczecin, 70-500 Szczecin, Poland; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +48-914800-972 Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous confusion around the world in our daily existence. The security measures taken, such as physical distance, wearing a mask, quarantine or closing shopping malls, and even isolating large groups of the population, did not contribute to the complete overcoming of the problem. Information on the positive results of research into the COVID-19 vaccine and, finally, its administration offered hope that the pandemic would be overcome. The undertaken problem of research concerning the subjective analysis of the feelings of doctors in Poland after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shows an important area of the medical world, which is directly responsible for their own health and the patients entrusted to them. In addition, 149 people participated in the study (8–13 February 2021), including 57% of women and 43% of men. The minimum and maximum age of the respondents are 26 and 69 years old. Furthermore, 85% of respondents took two doses of the vaccine and 15% took one. The authorial questionnaire was Citation: Zdziarski, K.; Landowski, completed by the participants in the study online in February 2021. The results obtained indicate M.; Zabielska, P.; Karakiewicz, B. that the COVID-19 vaccine generates hope for stopping the pandemic. In addition, 96% of research Subjective Feelings of Polish Doctors after Receiving the COVID-19 participants think so. Doctors in middle and mature age are the most optimistic, while the youngest Vaccine. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public ones are less optimistic. In addition, 57% of respondents do not worry about side effects after Health 2021, 18, 6291. https:// taking the vaccine. Fear at the time of vaccination was experienced by over 9% of doctors. The doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126291 most frequently reported post-vaccination reactions are injection site pain, fatigue and headache. Increased temperature occurred in older female respondents. From a psychosocial perspective, Academic Editors: Paul men are more likely to fear being infected personally with the virus, and women are more likely B. Tchounwou and Maria Chironna to be infected with their loved ones. The presented subjective assessment presents the physicians’ view captured at the moment in terms of existential and emotional. The presented feelings of the Received: 19 April 2021 research participants reflect their personal satisfaction, responsibility for their own health, care for Accepted: 7 June 2021 their relatives and patients. Published: 10 June 2021 Keywords: COVID-19; vaccine; doctor; subjective feelings; psychosocial condition; attitude; behaviour Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. 1. Introduction On the one hand, research on vaccine efficacy conducted by scientists is optimistic and, on the other hand, suggests doubts, which in turn may delay the vaccination process. The results of laboratory studies on the effectiveness of vaccines indicate 90% vaccine efficacy. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Skeptics of this view emphasize that this result is achievable when the preparations are This article is an open access article tested under ideal clinical conditions and when the transmission of infection is lower. With distributed under the terms and a higher number of infections, the effectiveness of the preparations is not satisfactory [1]. conditions of the Creative Commons Other studies show that new vaccines should not be waited more efficiently as this may Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// cause the pandemic to spread more widely [2]. Doctors in Poland and many other countries creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ belong to the so-called the zero group that is the first to receive the vaccine. Taking vaccines 4.0/). by doctors is an important factor that stimulates the society to follow attitudes and at the Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 6291. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126291 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 6291 2 of 12 same time strengthens respondents in their existential and psychological condition. From a social point of view, this is extremely important because, in general, people tend to express negative emotions, resentment or fear during a pandemic [3,4]. Doctors have been exposed to anxiety and depression from the very beginning of the pandemic [5]. This is confirmed by the results of studies conducted on this issue, which indicate a high state of anxiety and depression during a pandemic [6]. Other studies confirm that doctors treating patients with COVID-19 are at high risk for mental health problems. In China, about 14% of physicians showed moderate to severe depressive symptoms, and, in Wuhan alone, severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, fear and insomnia [7]. The above behaviors are also associated with occupational burnout, which, according to reports from many studies, is at a high level [8]. Taking the vaccine may have a positive effect on the psychosocial behavior of respondents, which translates not only into their personal well-being, but also into positive interactions with patients. The subjective opinions presented provide views on the effectiveness of the vaccine, personal satisfaction, and the effectiveness of vaccination to deal with the pandemic. They also present existential attitudes in the face of the prevailing pandemic, which are related to caring for loved ones and oneself. Moreover, they reveal the level of personal fear and of their families fear of becoming infected with COVID-19. The feelings of the respondents after receiving vaccinations express their personal inner opinion from the perspective of their subjective sense of psychological comfort and well-being. The subjective approach used in the research is applicable to cognitive- behavioral concepts that emphasize the role of cognitive processes, which make it possible to register and become aware of what a person feels, thinks and experiences at a given moment, not neglecting the importance of emotions, which constitute the content of each cognition [9]. The undertaken research problem focuses on presenting the subjective feelings of Polish doctors after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The information obtained is important for the psychosocial functioning of physicians because the pandemic increases the demands placed on them and puts them at high risk of adversely affecting mental health [10]. 2. Materials and Methods The study was conducted using a proprietary questionnaire, including 17 questions that were asked to doctors in electronic form. The first part of the questionnaire included sociodemographic questions that were asked to doctors in electronic form. The next questions were: 1. How many doses of the vaccine have you taken? 2. Did you take the vaccine voluntarily? 3. Did you feel fear when you were vaccinated? 4. Are you concerned about the negative effects of the vaccine? 5. Did you need a doctor’s help after receiving the vaccine? 6. Have you been hospitalized after receiving the vaccine? 7. Have there been any post-vaccination reactions? (injection site pain, swelling, redness, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, chills, fever, nausea). 8. How do you rate the effectiveness of the vaccine you have received? 9. Will taking the vaccine help to contain the pandemic? 10. Are you afraid of getting infected with COVID-19? 11. Are you afraid of infection and illness of someone close to you? 12. Did any of your family have COVID-19? 13. Did any of your family die from COVID-19? The research tool was created for the needs of the current pandemic situation to collect data for further exploration on an ongoing basis. The studied sample consisted of 149 people selected on purpose during the course that was to improve the qualification. The respondents completed an electronic questionnaire using Microsoft Teams. The response rate was 100%. Quantitative data are given as mean ± standard deviation and percent- ages. The Mann–Whitney test, Kruskal–Wallis test and chi-square test for independence Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 6291 3 of 12 were used to analyze the differences between the distributions. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to test the correlation. A significance level of 0.05 was adopted for all tests. 3. Results The respondents were active doctors, women and men, after receiving the COVID- 19 vaccine. Of those surveyed, 85% (127 people) received two doses of the vaccine, the remaining 15% (22 people) received one dose of the vaccine. Women constituted 57% and men 43%. The mean and standard deviation of the age of the respondents were 32.1 ± 6.99, and the median, mode, minimum and maximum age were respectively: 29, 28, 26 and 69 years. Moreover, 62.4% of the respondents (93 people) were in the 26–30 age group, 32.2% in the 31–45 age group and 5.4% in the 46–69 age group. The mean standard deviation of the respondents’ work experience was 6.2 ± 6.8. The correlation between the length of service and the age of the respondents is positively very high and the Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.97 (p < 0.001). The mean and standard deviation of age and length of service, broken down into individual age groups and gender, are presented in Table1. Table 1.