Qualitative study of barriers to vaccine uptake in pregnancy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Qualitative study to understand the views of pregnant women about influenza and pertussis vaccination during pregnancy in Northern Ireland
IRAS ID
221976
Contact name
Declan Bradley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health Agency
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
Influenza (‘flu’) infection can cause illness and death of pregnant women, and whooping cough (also known as pertussis) can result in hospitalisation and death of babies in the first months of life. Immunisation against influenza and pertussis is recommended during pregnancy to protect women from the complications of influenza and to provide protection to their babies against whooping cough until they are old enough to be immunised themselves. Around 50-60% of pregnant women get vaccinated against each disease in Northern Ireland. We want to learn why pregnant women accept or decline vaccination during pregnancy to allow us to reduce practical, social and personal barriers to vaccination.
We seek to recruit pregnant women in Northern Ireland to form 2 focus groups of approximately 8 individuals each and two in-depth interviews with 1 individual each. Pregnant women will be opportunistically recruited from public locations (e.g. parks or shopping areas) with no use of HSC/NHS premises or information. Participants will be informed about the aims of the study and collection of information by the market research company and will give written, informed consent to participation.
Recruitment will be conducted by a market research company. Sessions will follow a discussion guide and will be facilitated by market research company researchers with experience in qualitative research. The sessions will be audio-recorded and transcribed by the market research company. The market research company will analyse the qualitative data collected and provide a report of findings to the Public Health Agency (PHA). The market research company will supply PHA with anonymised transcripts of the sessions. Trainee and supervisory staff will analyse the transcripts using thematic analysis to learn about the barriers and facilitators to vaccination during pregnancy and propose ways improving services. The findings of this analysis will also be reported through academic journals and conferences.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/WM/0076
Date of REC Opinion
7 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion