Health professionals' knowledge about vaccination of people living with HIV – an integrative review

Abstract

Objective

to identify evidence in the literature about the health professionals' knowledge concerning vaccination of people living with HIV.

Method

This is an integrative review. In this research, the descriptors used were the following: health personnel, knowledge, vaccination, HIV and its synonyms, without the use of filters, in the Pubmed, Virtual Health Library, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Scopus, Science Direct and Cochrane databases. Only primary articles analyzed using the RAYYAN application were included.

Results

Out of 601 initial publications, only five comprised the final sample, all identified in Pubmed and published between 2013 and 2018, with no Brazilian studies. Most of the publications were related to a specific vaccine and did not address the entire vaccination schedule.

Conclusion and implications for the practice

The health professionals' lack of knowledge in relation to vaccines indicated to people living with HIV was the main aspect identified, resulting in insecurity among the professionals. There is a need for permanent education of the multidisciplinary teams of specialized services and primary care in order to reduce barriers and to increase vaccination coverage for this clientele.

Keywords:
Vaccination coverage; Knowledge; HIV; Health professionals; Vaccination