The swine flu vaccine, public attitudes, and researcher interpretations: a systematic review of qualitative research.
BACKGROUND
During pandemics, health authorities may be uncertain about the spread and severity of the disease and the effectiveness and safety of available interventions. This was the case during the swine flu (H1N1) pandemic of 2009-2010, and governments were forced to make decisions despite these uncertainties. While many countries chose to implement wide scale vaccination programmes, few accomplished their vaccination goals. Many research studies aiming to explore barriers and facilitators to vaccine uptake have been conducted in the aftermath of the pandemic, including several qualitative studies.


AIMS
1. To explore public attitudes to the swine flu vaccine in different countries through a review of qualitative primary studies. 2. To describe and discuss the implications drawn by the primary study authors.


METHODS
Systematic review of qualitative research studies, using a broadly comparative cross case-study approach. Study quality was appraised using an adaptation of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) quality assessment tool.


RESULTS
The review indicates that the public had varying opinions about disease risk and prevalence and had concerns about vaccine safety. Most primary study authors concluded that participants were uninformed, and that more information about the disease and the vaccine would have led to an increase in vaccine uptake. We find these conclusions problematic. We suggest instead that people's questions and concerns were legitimate given the uncertainties of the situation at the time and the fact that the authorities did not have the necessary information to convince the public. Our quality assessment of the included studies points to a lack of reflexivity and a lack of information about study context. We suggest that these study weaknesses are tied to primary study authors' lack of acknowledgement of the uncertainties surrounding the disease and the vaccine.


CONCLUSION
While primary study authors suggest that authorities could increase vaccine uptake through increased information, we suggest instead that health authorities should be more transparent in their information and decision-making processes in future pandemic situations.
['Carlsen|Benedicte|B|', 'Glenton|Claire|C|']
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel D001294:Attitude to Health D005260:Female D006801:Humans D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype D007252:Influenza Vaccines D007251:Influenza, Human D008297:Male D058873:Pandemics D011639:Public Opinion D036301:Qualitative Research D012108:Research Personnel D014611:Vaccination
Swine flu Vaccination Systematic review Qualitative research Pandemic H1N1 Reflexivity Research context