VACCINE STORAGE AND HANDLING - KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE IN PRIMARY-CAREPHYSICIANS OFFICES

OBJECTIVE To assess the knowledge and practice of vaccine storage and handling in primary care physicians' offices. DESIGN A cross-sectional study was conducted from August to December 1992. Staff responsible f or vaccine storage were interviewed about their knowledge and practice s of vaccine handling and storage. Refrigerators were inspected to doc ument refrigerator temperature and vaccine storage conditions. SETTING General and pediatric practices in 12 regions of Ontario. PARTICIPANT S Practices outside metropolitan Toronto were selected by choosing eve ry 10th physician who ordered vaccine from the local health department in 1992. Practices chosen in metropolitan Toronto were a random selec tion of physicians affiliated with a Toronto teaching hospital. Eighte en pediatric and 138 general practices were approached to participate; 12 pediatric and 123 general practices participated in the study. The overall response rate was 86.5%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Survey respons es and temperature and storage conditions of refrigerators upon inspec tion. RESULTS Fewer than seven (6%) practices answered all questions r elated to vaccine storage and handling correctly, and only 11 (10%) re frigerators had thermometers. One-third of refrigerators had temperatu res outside the recommended range of 2 degrees C to 8 degrees C. Older refrigerators were more likely to have inappropriate temperatures tha n newer ones. CONCLUSIONS Knowledge and practice of vaccine storage an d handling are often inadequate in primary care physicians' offices.