sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
hat tip Michael Coston
Seasonal influenza vaccination campaigns for health care
personnel: systematic review
pdf here:
http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091304.pdf
Po-Po Lam MSc, Larry W. Chambers PhD, Donna M. Pierrynowski MacDougall PhD, Anne E. McCarthy MD
Abstract -
Background: In Canada, vaccination coverage for seasonal
influenza among health care personnel remains below
50%. The objective of this review was to determine which
seasonal influenza vaccination campaign or campaign
components in health care settings were significantly associated
with increases in influenza vaccination among staff.
Methods: We identified articles in eight electronic databases
and included randomized controlled trials, controlled
before-and-after studies and studies with interrupted time
series designs in our review. Two reviewers independently
abstracted the data and assessed the risk of biases. We calculated
risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals for randomized
controlled trials and controlled before-and-after
studies and described interrupted time series studies.
Results: We identified 99 studies evaluating influenza vaccination
campaigns for health care workers, but only 12 of
the studies were eligible for review. In nonhospital health
care settings, including long-term care facilities, campaigns
with a greater variety of components (including education
or promotion, better access to vaccines, legislation or
regu lation and/or role models) were associated with
higher risk ratios (i.e, favouring the intervention group).
Within hospital settings, the results reported for various
types of campaigns were mixed. Many of the criteria for
assessing risk of bias were not reported.
Interpretation: Campaigns involving only education or
promotion resulted in minimal changes in vaccination
rates. Further studies are needed to determine the appropriate
components and combinations of components in
influenza vaccination campaigns for health care personnel.
Seasonal influenza vaccination campaigns for health care
personnel: systematic review
pdf here:
http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091304.pdf
Po-Po Lam MSc, Larry W. Chambers PhD, Donna M. Pierrynowski MacDougall PhD, Anne E. McCarthy MD
Abstract -
Background: In Canada, vaccination coverage for seasonal
influenza among health care personnel remains below
50%. The objective of this review was to determine which
seasonal influenza vaccination campaign or campaign
components in health care settings were significantly associated
with increases in influenza vaccination among staff.
Methods: We identified articles in eight electronic databases
and included randomized controlled trials, controlled
before-and-after studies and studies with interrupted time
series designs in our review. Two reviewers independently
abstracted the data and assessed the risk of biases. We calculated
risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals for randomized
controlled trials and controlled before-and-after
studies and described interrupted time series studies.
Results: We identified 99 studies evaluating influenza vaccination
campaigns for health care workers, but only 12 of
the studies were eligible for review. In nonhospital health
care settings, including long-term care facilities, campaigns
with a greater variety of components (including education
or promotion, better access to vaccines, legislation or
regu lation and/or role models) were associated with
higher risk ratios (i.e, favouring the intervention group).
Within hospital settings, the results reported for various
types of campaigns were mixed. Many of the criteria for
assessing risk of bias were not reported.
Interpretation: Campaigns involving only education or
promotion resulted in minimal changes in vaccination
rates. Further studies are needed to determine the appropriate
components and combinations of components in
influenza vaccination campaigns for health care personnel.