Assessment of the belief and attitudes of Iranian healthcare personnel's toward the influenza infection and influenza vaccination

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J Prev Med Hyg. 2019 Sep 30;60(3):E178-E183. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2019.60.3.1056. eCollection 2019 Sep. Assessment of the belief and attitudes of Iranian healthcare personnel's toward the influenza infection and influenza vaccination.

Hosamirudsari H¹, Kanavee AR², Ghanbari M², Akbarpour S³, Alimohamadi Y^4,5.
Author information

1 Department of Infectious Diseases, Baharloo Hospital, Railway Square, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2 Research Center, Baharloo Hospital, Railway Square, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 3 Occupational Sleep Research Center (OSRC), Baharloo Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 4 Pars Advanced and Minimally Invasive Medical Manners Research Center, Pars Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction:

Influenza is one of the main public health problems and health care personnels (HCPs) are one of the at-risk groups for this infection. The goal of the current study was to identify the beliefs and attitudes of the Iranian HCPs about influenza and the influenza vaccine.
Methods:

This cross-sectional study was performed in a general hospital in Tehran, Iran from January to June 2016. A total of 418 questionnaires were distributed among the HCPs. The Chi² test, linear regression and one-way ANOVA were used for data analysis, α: 0.05 was considered as a statistically significant level. All analyses were performed using the SPSS19 software.
Results:

The influenza vaccination coverage was 57.7%; the highest vaccine rate belongs to the allied health professionals (68.2%). Two main causes for avoiding the influenza vaccination were; the "fear of vaccine adverse effects" and the "uncertainty about the vaccine effectiveness". The linear regression analysis identified that the physicians had the highest belief score, followed by the nurses and the allied health professionals (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:

Educational planning on influenza and influenza vaccination is necessary to improve the vaccination coverage and to reduce the influenza mortality and morbidity in susceptible patients.
?2019 Pacini Editore SRL, Pisa, Italy.


KEYWORDS:

Attitude; Belief; Healthcare professionals; Influenza; Iran; Vaccination

PMID: 31650051 PMCID: PMC6797887 DOI: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2019.60.3.1056