Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians regarding vaccination against Herpes zoster

Objective To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the physicians of a fourth-level institution in Colombia, regarding vaccination against Herpes-zoster. Methodology An email survey was applied to 141 general physicians and specialists in various areas. Results 85.3 % of those surveyed knew about the existence of the vaccine against Herpes-zoster, and 50% knew that there are two types of vaccines. 60.8% were aware of the recommendation to vaccinate as from the age of 50. However, only 11.8% of the physicians recommended the vaccine to between 25 and 100% of their patients over 50 years of age. 36.3% and 41.2% of the physicians never made this recommendation to adults over 60 and 50 years of age, respectively. Conclusions In a fourth-level institution in Colombia, most physicians in a fourth-level institution know about the existence of the Herpes-zoster vaccine, but this knowledge is not reflected in their clinical practices and the recommendations given to their patients.