The Evaluation of Knowledge, Opinions, and Attitudes of Hospital Staff Except Physicians and Nurses Regarding Seasonal Influenza Vaccine

Objective: Seasonal influenza infections are a leading cause of illness, death, productivity loss, and absenteeism. Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for healthcare workers, but vaccination rate is low in many countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, opinions, and attitudes of hospital staff except physicians and nurses toward influenza and influenza vaccination. Material and Methods: In this descriptive study, among 248 hospital staff working at the Hacettepe University, Ihsan Dogramaci Children’s Hospital in Ankara, Turkey, 179 participated in the study. A questionnaire with 33 questions was administered to the hospital staff. The participants answered questions about their sociodemographic characteristics; status of influenza vaccination; and their opinions, attitudes, and information about influenza and influenza vaccination. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the significance of the observed differences. The results were accepted as statistically significant if p value was lower than 0.05. Results: Among the participants, 55.3% (n=99) were female and 86.0% (n=154) had been working for ≥5 years. The seasonal influenza vaccination rate among all participants during the 2013–2014 season was 18.4% (n=33). The most important reasons for declining seasonal vaccination were rare occurrence of flu (53.4%), apprehension regarding adverse effects (24.6%), concern regarding falling ill after vaccination (16.4%), and not being convinced about the necessity for vaccination (15.7%). With regard to revaccination in 2014–2015, 93.9% of the hospital staff vaccinated in the previous season underwent revaccination, whereas only 27.2% of those who were not previously vaccinated did (p<0.001). Conclusion: Influenza vaccination coverage in hospital staff was below the desirable levels. Useful interventions, such as the training of the hospital staff concerning the benefits and safety of influenza vaccination before the influenza season and the use of mobile vaccination teams in conjunction with incentives, should be widely implemented. (J Pediatr Inf 2015; 9: 68-75)