TY - JOUR A1 - Holzmann-Littig, Christopher A1 - Stadler, David A1 - Popp, Maria A1 - Kranke, Peter A1 - Fichtner, Falk A1 - Schmaderer, Christoph A1 - Renders, Lutz A1 - Braunisch, Matthias Christoph A1 - Assali, Tarek A1 - Platen, Louise A1 - Wijnen-Meijer, Marjo A1 - Lühnen, Julia A1 - Steckelberg, Anke A1 - Pfadenhauer, Lisa A1 - Haller, Bernhard A1 - Fuetterer, Cornelia A1 - Seeber, Christian A1 - Schaaf, Christian T1 - Locating medical information during an infodemic: information seeking behavior and strategies of health-care workers in Germany JF - Healthcare N2 - Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a flood of — often contradictory — evidence. HCWs had to develop strategies to locate information that supported their work. We investigated the information-seeking of different HCW groups in Germany. Methods: In December 2020, we conducted online surveys on COVID-19 information sources, strategies, assigned trustworthiness, and barriers — and in February 2021, on COVID-19 vaccination information sources. Results were analyzed descriptively; group comparisons were performed using χ\(^2\)-tests. Results: For general COVID-19-related medical information (413 participants), non-physicians most often selected official websites (57%), TV (57%), and e-mail/newsletters (46%) as preferred information sources — physicians chose official websites (63%), e-mail/newsletters (56%), and professional journals (55%). Non-physician HCWs used Facebook/YouTube more frequently. The main barriers were insufficient time and access issues. Non-physicians chose abstracts (66%), videos (45%), and webinars (40%) as preferred information strategy; physicians: overviews with algorithms (66%), abstracts (62%), webinars (48%). Information seeking on COVID-19 vaccination (2700 participants) was quite similar, however, with newspapers being more often used by non-physicians (63%) vs. physician HCWs (70%). Conclusion: Non-physician HCWs more often consulted public information sources. Employers/institutions should ensure the supply of professional, targeted COVID-19 information for different HCW groups. KW - COVID-19 KW - infodemic KW - health-care workers KW - HCW KW - information strategies KW - emergency information Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-319306 SN - 2227-9032 VL - 11 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Werner, Anne A1 - Popp, Maria A1 - Fichtner, Falk A1 - Holzmann-Littig, Christopher A1 - Kranke, Peter A1 - Steckelberg, Anke A1 - Lühnen, Julia A1 - Redlich, Lisa Marie A1 - Dickel, Steffen A1 - Grimm, Clemens A1 - Moerer, Onnen A1 - Nothacker, Monika A1 - Seeber, Christian T1 - COVID-19 intensive care — Evaluation of public information sources and current standards of care in German intensive care units: a cross sectional online survey on intensive care staff in Germany JF - Healthcare N2 - Backround: In February 2021, the first formal evidence and consensus-based (S3) guidelines for the inpatient treatment of patients with COVID-19 were published in Germany and have been updated twice during 2021. The aim of the present study is to re-evaluate the dissemination pathways and strategies for ICU staff (first evaluation in December 2020 when previous versions of consensus-based guidelines (S2k) were published) and question selected aspects of guideline adherence of standard care for patients with COVID-19 in the ICU. Methods: We conducted an anonymous online survey among German intensive care staff from 11 October 2021 to 11 November 2021. We distributed the survey via e-mail in intensive care facilities and requested redirection to additional intensive care staff (snowball sampling). Results: There was a difference between the professional groups in the number, selection and qualitative assessment of information sources about COVID-19. Standard operating procedures were most frequently used by all occupational groups and received a high quality rating. Physicians preferred sources for active information search (e.g., medical journals), while nurses predominantly used passive consumable sources (e.g., every-day media). Despite differences in usage behaviour, the sources were rated similarly in terms of the quality of the information on COVID-19. The trusted organizations have not changed over time. The use of guidelines was frequently stated and highly recommended. The majority of the participants reported guideline-compliant treatment. Nevertheless, there were certain variations in the use of medication as well as the criteria chosen for discontinuing non-invasive ventilation (NIV) compared to guideline recommendations. Conclusions: An adequate external source of information for nursing staff is lacking, the usual sources of physicians are only appropriate for the minority of nursing staff. The self-reported use of guidelines is high. KW - COVID-19 KW - implementation KW - guideline usage KW - guideline adherence KW - intensive care KW - Germany KW - ICU staff Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-281865 SN - 2227-9032 VL - 10 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holzmann-Littig, Christopher A1 - Frank, Tamara A1 - Schmaderer, Christoph A1 - Braunisch, Matthias C. A1 - Renders, Lutz A1 - Kranke, Peter A1 - Popp, Maria A1 - Seeber, Christian A1 - Fichtner, Falk A1 - Littig, Bianca A1 - Carbajo-Lozoya, Javier A1 - Meerpohl, Joerg J. A1 - Haller, Bernhard A1 - Allwang, Christine T1 - COVID-19 Vaccines: Fear of side effects among German health care workers JF - Vaccines N2 - (1) Background: Health care workers (HCWs) play a key role in increasing anti-COVID vaccination rates. Fear of potential side effects is one of the main reasons for vaccine hesitancy. We investigated which side effects are of concern to HCWs and how these are associated with vaccine hesitancy. (2) Methods: Data were collected in an online survey in February 2021 among HCWs from across Germany with 4500 included participants. Free-text comments on previously experienced vaccination side effects, and fear of short- and long-term side effects of the COVID-19 vaccination were categorized and analyzed. (3) Results: Most feared short-term side effects were vaccination reactions, allergic reactions, and limitations in daily life. Most feared long-term side effects were (auto-) immune reactions, neurological side effects, and currently unknown long-term consequences. Concerns about serious vaccination side effects were associated with vaccination refusal. There was a clear association between refusal of COVID-19 vaccination in one's personal environment and fear of side effects. (4) Conclusions: Transparent information about vaccine side effects is needed, especially for HCW. Especially when the participants' acquaintances advised against vaccination, they were significantly more likely to fear side effects. Thus, further education of HCW is necessary to achieve good information transfer in clusters as well. KW - COVID-19 KW - vaccine hesitancy KW - health care workers KW - side-effects KW - fears Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-270561 SN - 2076-393X VL - 10 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holzmann-Littig, Christopher A1 - Braunisch, Matthias Christoph A1 - Kranke, Peter A1 - Popp, Maria A1 - Seeber, Christian A1 - Fichtner, Falk A1 - Littig, Bianca A1 - Carbajo-Lozoya, Javier A1 - Allwang, Christine A1 - Frank, Tamara A1 - Meerpohl, Joerg Johannes A1 - Haller, Bernhard A1 - Schmaderer, Christoph T1 - COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and hesitancy among healthcare workers in germany JF - Vaccines N2 - Vaccination hesitancy is a threat to herd immunity. Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a key role in promoting Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in the general population. We therefore aimed to provide data on COVID-19 vaccination acceptance/hesitancy among German HCWs. For this exploratory, cross-sectional study, an online survey was conducted in February 2021. The survey included 54 items on demographics; previous vaccination behavior; trust in vaccines, physicians, the pharmaceutical industry and health politics; fear of adverse effects; assumptions regarding the consequences of COVID-19; knowledge about vaccines; and information seeking behavior. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated and chi-square tests were performed. Four thousand five hundred surveys were analyzed. The overall vaccination acceptance was 91.7%. The age group ≤20 years showed the lowest vaccination acceptance. Factors associated with vaccination hesitancy were lack of trust in authorities and pharmaceutical companies. Attitudes among acquaintances were associated with vaccination hesitancy too. Participants with vaccination hesitancy more often obtained information about COVID-19 vaccines via messenger services or online video platforms and underperformed in the knowledge test. We found high acceptance amongst German HCWs. Several factors associated with vaccination hesitancy were identified which could be targeted in HCW vaccination campaigns. KW - COVID-19 KW - vaccine KW - vaccination KW - vaccination hesitancy KW - vaccine refusal KW - vaccination campaign Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242627 SN - 2076-393X VL - 9 IS - 7 ER -