Factors associated with influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in acute care hospitals in Canada

Abstract

BackgroundInfluenza vaccine coverage rates among healthcare workers (HCWs) in acute care facilities in Canada remain below national targets.ObjectiveTo determine factors associated with influenza vaccine uptake among HCWs.MethodsThis secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study included HCWs aged 18‐69 years, working ≥20 h/wk in a Canadian acute care hospital. Questionnaires were administered to participants in the fall of the season of participation (2011/12‐2013/14) which captured demographic/household characteristics, medical histories, occupational, behavioural and risk factors for influenza. Generalized estimating equation logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with vaccine uptake in the season of participation.ResultsThe adjusted odds ratio for influenza vaccination in the current season was highest for those vaccinated in 3 of 3 previous seasons (OR 156; 95% CI 98, 248) followed by those vaccinated in 2 of 3 and 1 of 3 previous seasons when compared with those not vaccinated. Compared with nurses, physicians (OR 4.2; 95% CI 1.4, 13.2) and support services staff (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.3, 2.4) had higher odds ratios for vaccine uptake. Conversely, HCWs identifying as Black had lower odds of uptake compared with those with European ancestry (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.26‐0.75) when adjusted for other factors in the model.ConclusionHealthcare workers differ in their annual uptake of influenza vaccine based on their past vaccination history, occupation and ethnicity. These findings indicate a need to determine whether there are other vaccine‐hesitant groups within healthcare settings and learn which approaches are successful in increasing their uptake of influenza vaccines.

Influenza Vaccination Coverage, Motivators for, and Barriers to Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Workers in Wroclaw, Poland

“…Another finding in our study illustrated that a previous history of immunization was positively correlated with the influenza vaccine uptake in the participants of this survey (p < 0.001), which is highly consistent with the results of many studies [10,23,[39][40][41].…”

Promotion of the influenza vaccination to hospital staff during pre-employment health check: a prospective, randomised, controlled trial

“…Indeed, this hypothesis is corroborated by a 2017 study carried out in a South Korean tertiary hospital [ 31 ] that also showed that individual, person-to-person awareness-raising was associated with an increased vaccination coverage rate among physicians only. A range of studies have shown the need to provide specific messages adapted to different professional groups as each category has different representations of, and attitudes towards, seasonal influenza vaccination [ 23 , 24 , 32 ]. With this in mind, future research should examine how to differentiate awareness-raising according to the specific target audiences taking part in pre-employment health checks.…”

Improved influenza vaccination coverage among health-care workers: evidence from a web-based survey in China, 2019/2020 season

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