Barriers and Facilitators to MMR Vaccination Among Healthcare Workers (BFMMRHCW)

Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Uptake of the MMR Vaccine Among Healthcare Workers at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Measles is a highly contagious disease which can result in severe complications in some patients. Healthcare workers have a higher risk of getting measles than the general population because of their increased risk of exposure from patients with measles attending hospitals. Having had measles in the past or at least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine provides protection (immunity) against measles. UK government guidelines therefore recommend that healthcare workers and non-clinical staff with direct patient contact are fully vaccinated or have other evidence of immunity. Yet, evidence from recent measles outbreaks suggests that some healthcare workers are not immune or do not know if they are immune, with implications for containment efforts, cost and transmission. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers and facilitators to uptake of the MMR vaccine among healthcare workers at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH). KCH healthcare workers will be eligible to take part in the study if they are aged 18 and over and have direct contact with patients. In addition, the research will focus on four subgroups of healthcare workers at KCH: those who are not immune, those who have not completed the full vaccination schedule, those who don't know their immunity status, those received the vaccine only after joining KCH. The latter may provide insights into facilitators to vaccine uptake. Measles immunity forms part of the occupational health screening at KCH. A series of semi structured interviews lasting approximately 1 hour will explore participants' experiences of the occupational health vaccine screening process and measles vaccine campaigns at KCH; why they are unvaccinated/not fully vaccinated/do not know if they are immune/decided to be vaccinated after joining KCH; and what measures or interventions may help healthcare workers when deciding whether to get the MMR vaccine.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Measles
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: MMR vaccination

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 23

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • London, United Kingdom
    • King's College London

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants will be recruited from a population of hospital-based healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, health assistants, etc. Healthcare workers will be recruited from one site only (KCH).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are aged 18 and over
• Currently work as a healthcare worker at the Trust
• Have direct contact with patients
• Don't know if they have had measles and don't know if they have been vaccinated
• Or: Have not had measles and have not received the MMR vaccine
• Or: Have only received 1 dose of the MMR vaccine
• Or: Received the MMR vaccine after joining the Trust

Exclusion Criteria:

• Are aged <18 years old
• Work in a role at the Trust that does not involve direct contact with patients (e.g., administrative or business staff)
• Are sure and/or have evidence that they have had measles in the past or both doses of the MMR vaccine before joining the Trust
• Are not able to give informed consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Healthcare workers; Healthcare workers at one Trust who have direct patient contact and fall within one of four groups: 1) they are not immune to measles (have not had measles in the past and have not been vaccinated with both doses of the MMR vaccine), 2) they have not completed the full vaccination schedule (they have received only 1 dose of the MMR vaccine), 3) they do not know their immunity status, and 4) they received the MMR vaccine after joining the Trust.

Biological: MMR vaccination; MMR vaccination status

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Barriers to MMR vaccination	Barriers to MMR vaccination will be explored in the qualitative interview	Collected at one timepoint 1 day during qualitative interview
Facilitators to MMR vaccination	Facilitators to MMR vaccination will be explored in the qualitative interview	Collected at one timepoint 1 day during qualitative interview
Reasons for not knowing immunity status	Reasons for not knowing immunity status will be explored in the qualitative interview	Collected at one timepoint 1 day during qualitative interview

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Experiences of the occupational health vaccine screening process at KCH	Experiences of the occupational health vaccine screening process at the Trust will be explored in the qualitative interview	Collected at one timepoint 1 day during qualitative interview

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: King's College London
• Collaborators: King's College Hospital NHS Trust; UK Health Security Agency

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 12, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 19, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): December 19, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 30, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 12, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 1, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Paramyxoviridae Infections; Mononegavirales Infections; Morbillivirus Infections; Measles
• Other Study ID Numbers: 344919

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: Pseudonymised interview transcripts will be uploaded onto the King's College London Open Research Data System with the participant's consent.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No