Knowledge about vaccines and vaccination in older people: Results of a national survey by the Italian Society for Gerontology & Geriatrics

•Levels of knowledge regarding vaccines and vaccination vary widely among physicians.•We investigated knowledge levels among qualified specialists and residents in Italy.•Residents were more knowledgeable than specialists, but overall rates of correct answers were poor.•Targeted interventions are needed to ensure physicians provide accurate information to patients. There is wide variation among physicians in the level of knowledge regarding vaccines and vaccination. We sought to compare the level of vaccine knowledge between qualified specialists and postgraduate residents. A questionnaire designed ad hoc by a consensus group was circulated to the Directors of 51 geriatrics internship programs in Italy. It investigated demographics, information sources, knowledge about influenza, pneumonococcal and herpes zoster vaccines and target groups. The proportion of correct responders was compared between residents and qualified specialists, and between best (top quartile) and worst (bottom quartile) performers. A total of 459 questionnaires were analyzed; 245 (53%) were females; 253 (55%) were qualified specialists, 206 (45%) were residents. Mean age was 40.3 (SD: 12.8) years, almost 60% worked in acute care wards. On average, 33% of patients asked for information about vaccination. Residents answered significantly better on 7 out of 18 questions, and numerically albeit non-statistically higher correct response rates on a further 8 questions. There were significantly more men among the poor performers (p