Empathy in vaccination counselling: a survey on the impact of a three-day residential course

Figures & data

Table 1. Validation of CARE measure adapted to vaccination setting in Italy.

Item Number	Question	Corrected item-total correlation	Cronbach’s alpha if item deleted
1	Making you/your child feel at ease (being friendly and warm towards you/your child. treating you/your child with respect. not cold or abrupt)	0.743	0.941
2	Letting you tell doubts/questions/curiosity about vaccinations (giving you time to fully describe doubts/questions/curiosity about vaccinations)	0.769	0.94
3	Really listening (paying close attention to what you were saying; not looking at the notes or computer as you were talking)	0.777	0.94
4	Being interested in you and in your child as a whole person (asking/knowing relevant details about your life. your situation; not treating you as ‘just a number’)	0.766	0.94
5	Fully understanding your concerns (communicating that he/she had accurately under- stood your concerns about vaccination; not overlooking or dismissiong anything)	0.781	0.939
6	Showing care and compassion (seeming genuinely concerned. connecting with you and your child on a human level; not being indifferent or ‘detached’)	0.784	0.939
7	Being exhaustive (properly discussing benefit and side effects of vaccination; being honest but not negative about your problems)	0.796	0.939
8	Explaining things clearly (fully answering your questions. explaining clearly. giving you adequate information; not being vague)	0.795	0.939
9	Helping you to take control (exploring with you what you can do about your child vaccination; encouraging rather than ‘lecturing’ you)	0.787	0.939
10	Making a plan of action with you (discussing and planning the vaccination. involving you in decisions as much as you want to be involved; not ignoring your views)	0.742	0.941

Changes from the original CARE Measure are in bold

Table 2. Demographics characteristic of vaccinated children and interviewed parents.

Immunized children	Pre n (%)	Post n (%)
Gender
Male	472 (49.7)	448 (47.2)
Female	460 (48.4)	472 (49.7)
Missing	18 (1.9)	30 (3.2)
Age
0–1 months	7 (0.7)	6 (0.6)
2–12 months	432 (45.5)	435 (45.8)
13–60 mounths	299 (31.5)	281 (29.6)
6–10 years	74 (7.8)	85 (8.9)
11–18 years	127 (13.4)	120 (12.6)
Missing	11 (1.2)	23 (2.4)
Parents
Age (years)
< 20	167 (17.6)	131 (13.8)
20–29	211 (22.2)	174 (18.3)
30–39	417 (43.9)	424 (44.6)
40–49	115 (12.1)	143 (15.1)
≥ 50	21 (2.2)	18 (1.9)
Missing	19 (2.0)	60 (6.3)
Educational level
Primary school	39 (4.1)	19 (2.0)
Secondary school	262 (27.6)	216 (22.7)
High school	445 (46.8)	469 (49.4)
University	156 (16.4)	212 (22.3)
Missing	48 (5.1)	34 (3.6)
More than one child
Yes	514 (54.1)	519 (54.6)
No	402 (42.3)	363 (38.2)
Missing	34 (3.6)	68 (7.2)

Table 3. Mean and median score in pre and post course.

	PRE COURSE	POST COURSE	PRE COURSE	POST COURSE
Item number*	Mean score (± SD)	Mean score (± SD)	Median score	Median score
1	4.35 (± 0.81)	4.50 (± 0.68)	5	5
2	4.28 (± 0.83)	4.41 (± 0.75)	4	5
3	4.32 (± 0.83)	4.49 (± 0.69)	5	5
4	4.30 (± 0.92)	4.45 (± 0.78)	5	5
5	4.28 (± 0.91)	4.43 (± 0.75)	4	5
6	4.27 (± 0.91)	4.45 (± 0.71)	4	5
7	4.31 (± 0.86)	4.49 (± 0.73)	5	5
8	4.37 (± 0.83)	4.54 (± 0.7)	5	5
9	4.23 (± 0.93)	4.46 (± 0.75)	4	5
10	4.23 (± 0.97)	4.48 (± 0.72)	4	5

*see Table 1

Table 4. Distribution of answers to the CARE measure items in pre and post course: doctors/nurses.

MEDICAL DOCTORS	PRE COURSE								POST COURSE
Item number*	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent	Missing	Mean score (± SD)	Median score	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent	Missing	Mean score (± SD)	Median score
1	0	6	78	120	196	0	4.27 (± 0.82)	4	0	1	39	135	225	0	4.46 (± 0.68)	5
2	0	9	85	124	180	2	4.19 (± 0.9)	4	3	2	50	143	200	2	4.34 (± 0.77)	5
3	0	8	79	129	184	0	4.22 (± 0.83)	4	2	2	37	136	223	0	4.44 (± 0.72)	5
4	0	11	73	124	191	1	4.24 (± 0.87)	4	1	2	45	126	224	2	4.43 (± 0.76)	5
5	0	5	87	119	186	3	4.22 (± 0.9)	4	1	4	42	143	208	2	4.39 (± 0.73)	5
6	0	15	77	118	188	2	4.20 (± 0.93)	4	0	9	32	142	216	1	4.42 (± 0.73)	5
7	1	13	90	113	183	0	4.16 (± 0.9)	4	0	7	34	117	241	1	4.48 (± 0.73)	5
8	1	7	72	128	192	0	4.26 (± 0.83)	4	0	3	38	111	247	1	4.51 (± 0.7)	5
9	0	18	84	126	170	2	4.12 (± 0.94)	4	0	7	38	136	219	0	4.42 (± 0.73)	5
10	1	17	86	118	177	1	4.15 (± 0.93)	4	0	1	37	149	213	0	4.44 (± 0.67)	5
NURSES	PRE COURSE								POST COURSE
Itemnumber*	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent	Missing	Mean score (± SD)	Median score	Poor	Fair	Good	Very Good	Excellent	Missing	Mean score (± SD)	Median score
1	1	3	70	168	306	2	4.41 (± 0.79)	5	0	1	54	147	345	3	4.53 (± 0.68)	5
2	1	7	75	191	276	0	4.33 (± 0.77)	5	1	5	59	159	321	5	4.46 (± 0.74)	5
3	3	4	63	186	291	3	4.39 (± 0.82)	5	0	2	48	154	343	3	4.53 (± 0.67)	5
4	6	7	76	158	297	6	4.35 (± 0.95)	5	4	6	51	157	327	5	4.46 (± 0.79)	5
5	3	9	78	178	277	5	4.32 (± 0.918)	5	1	5	53	171	313	7	4.45 (± 0.77)	5
6	3	8	81	175	279	4	4.32 (± 0.89)	5	0	3	52	173	314	8	4.47 (± 0.69)	5
7	0	8	65	166	308	3	4.41 (± 0.82)	5	0	10	45	152	336	7	4.5 (± 0.73)	5
8	0	6	52	173	314	5	4.47 (± 0.82)	5	0	5	41	137	362	5	4.57 (± 0.7)	5
9	0	13	78	182	271	6	4.31 (± 0.91)	4	1	8	48	148	337	8	4.5 (± 0.76)	5
10	2	10	88	167	274	9	4.30 (± 0.99)	5	1	5	42	157	337	8	4.52 (± 0.72)	5

*see Table 1