Elsevier

Vaccine

Volume 27, Issue 40, 4 September 2009, Pages 5538-5541
Vaccine

Attitudes towards influenza vaccination of multi-nationality health-care workers in Saudi Arabia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.06.108Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

The compliance with influenza vaccination among health-care workers (HCWs) is known to be low. A multi-nationality survey to explore the reasons for such poor compliance has not been studied in depth.

Materials and methods

An epidemiologic survey to evaluate the compliance rates with influenza vaccination and possible associated reasons for compliance.

Results

A total of 450 survey sheets were distributed and 244 (54.2%) were completed. Of the total respondents, 51 (20.9%) were Saudi, 114 (46.7%) were other Arabs, 21 (4%) were North American, 21 (8.6%) were from UK or South Africa and 48 (19.7%) did not indicate their nationalities. There were 32 (13.1%) physicians, and 132 (54.1%) nurses. The overall influenza vaccination rate was 41% in the preceding year and 69% in the preceding 5 years, and 49.2% (n = 110) of the latter group received one to three vaccines. Of the total respondents, 156 (63.9%) report that the influenza vaccine was important, 86 (35%) report that they were not at risk of influenza, 163 (66.8%) report that the influenza vaccine was not safe and 152 (62.3%) report that influenza was not a serious illness. In a multivariate analysis, the following factors were important in choosing vaccinations: being a male, other Arab nationality, and knowing that influenza vaccine is important (P  0.01). Feeling at risk of influenza, and not using any vaccine alternatives, and that the vaccine is important for self and the patient's protection, were statistically important factors as well (P  0.05).

Conclusion

Important factors associated with increasing influenza vaccine acceptance include being a male, other Arab nationality, and knowing that influenza vaccine is important. In addition, feeling at risk of influenza, and not using any vaccine alternatives, and that the vaccine is important for self and the patient's protection, were statistically important factors as well. Thus, efforts to increase the acceptance rates should take these factors in consideration.

Introduction

Influenza vaccination of health-care workers (HCWs) is associated with a substantial decrease in mortality among patients. In a study of the effect of influenza vaccine in HCWs, the uncorrected rate of mortality in patients was 13.6 in hospitals with 50.9% vaccination rate compared with a mortality of 22.4% in no vaccine hospitals [1]. The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends influenza vaccination of all HCWs [2]. Influenza vaccination is a very effective strategy for the prevention of influenza infection and the potentially associated complications [3]. However, the rate of influenza vaccination among HCWs is low at 42% [3]. Thus, ACIP recommends that health-care administrators consider the level of vaccination coverage among HCWs and to include this as a measure of a patient safety quality program [3]. It is also recommended that health-care organizations implement policies and procedures to encourage HCWs vaccination. Certain factors were associated with acceptance of influenza vaccination among HCWs and include older age, having had pneumococcal or hepatitis B vaccination in the past, or having visited a health-care professional during the previous year [3].

In Saudi Arabia, there are no studies addressing the compliance of HCWs with the recommended influenza vaccination and there are no studies of the compliance among multi-national HCWs. Moreover, despite the availability of seasonal influenza vaccine free of charge for all HCWs within our hospital, the over all influenza vaccination rate remains low at about 23%. Thus, we undertook this study to analyze factors associated with compliance with influenza vaccination in among multi-nationality HCWs in a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Section snippets

Methods

This study is a cross-sectional observational study of HCWs which was conducted at Saudi Aramco Medical Services Organization (SAMSO) during the infection control symposium held in November 2007. In SAMSO, there are about 455 physicians, 43 dental HCW and 1100 nurses. A brief introduction to the purpose of the study, instructions on how to complete the questionnaire, and anonymous forms were distributed to the staff members. The self-administered survey was distributed and HCWs were encouraged

Results

A total of 450 survey sheets were distributed and 244 (54.2%) were completed. Of the total respondents, 51 (20.9%) were Saudi, 114 (46.7%) were other Arabs, 21 (4%) were North American, 21 (8.6%) were from UK or South Africa and 48 (19.7%) did not indicate their nationalities. There were 32 (13.1%) physicians, 132 (54.1%) nurses, and 80 (32.8%) were other HCWs and included pharmacist (n = 7), laboratory (n = 28) and radiology (n = 21) technicians.

As recalled by the HCWs, the overall influenza

Discussion

The transmission of influenza among HCWs may lead to a high rate of absenteeism and reduced productivity [4], [5]. Influenza vaccination of HCWs leads to reduced work absenteeism and fewer deaths among residents of nursing homes [6]. In addition, HCW pose a potential risk for the transmission of communicable disease in hospitals where they work [7].

The response to the survey was 51% and is similar to a questionnaire response rate of 48% in another study [8]. We found that the overall influenza

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the use of Saudi Aramco Medical Services Organization (SAMSO) facilities for the data and study, which resulted in this paper. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily of SAMSO.

References (17)

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