695 - Behavior Change Opportunities and Threats for neonate RSV prevention in the Post-COVID-19 Era: A Qualitative Focus Group-Based Study on mothers of high-risk newborns and health professionals

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are the leading cause of hospitalization during the first year of life, with up to 3% of all infants hospitalized in high-income countries.


Objective:

Taking advantage of a likely change in attitudes towards respiratory infections and prevention due to the Covid-19 crisis, we aimed to understand parents’ and health care workers’ (HCWs) representations of RSV infections to determine potential barriers and facilitators to designing parent-infant preventive interventions in the post-Covid-19 era.


Design/Methods:

We conducted a qualitative study with 3 focus groups of newborns’ mothers (N = 16) and 2 focus groups of HCWs (N= 10). Although invited, newborns’ fathers did not attend. Themes discussed included general knowledge about bronchiolitis and RSV-infections; disease risk factors, symptoms, and severity; knowledge of preventive strategies; and prevention information offered by HCWs or received by mothers.


Results:

The most common words cited by parents concerned respiratory disease, and all parents associated the bronchiolitis disease with the hospital. Discrepancies emerged between parents without and with personal bronchiolitis experience. Parents did not consider adults as persons potentially driving the RSV transmission. Parents were aware of some RSV preventive measures, but most acknowledged low self-efficacy in applying those measures. Parents found social support and advice in peers, friends, and parents with experiential knowledge of RSV infections. No parent reported having received any specific preventive information about RSV. HCWs had good general knowledge of RSV and bronchiolitis, although midwives expressed lower knowledge than other HCWs. HCWs described their perception of low parental engagement with RSV infection risks. HCWs acknowledged that general prevention was part of their role; however, they expressed low self-efficacy concerning their skills, described the lack of a systematic prevention program, and reported lack of time as a main barrier for prevention in hospital environments.


Conclusion(s):

This study indicates that a knowledge gap concerning RSV infections, alongside perceived low self-efficacy to apply preventive measure in parents and HCWs, are important barriers to the implementation of a potential RSV prevention program. Improving knowledge on RSV risks, increasing motivation among parents, and finding dedicated time for prevention by HCWs are key targets for triggering behavior change toward the prevention of RSV in the post-covid era.