Implementation of a program to improve influenza vaccination rates among medical students: a comparative study involving two university affiliated hospitals

Increasing Seasonal Influenza Vaccination among University Students: A Systematic Review of Programs Using a Social Marketing Perspective

“…Table 1 shows the location, duration, and target audience of the seasonal influenza vaccination program. Ten studies examined program effectiveness in increasing the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine in the United States [ 16 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], one study was conducted in Australia [ 51 ], and one in Spain [ 52 ]. Results indicate that most studies were conducted in the USA and no studies from Asia, Africa, or South America were recorded.…”

“…One study evaluated a pilot program in the first year and interventions administered across a further two consecutive years. Of the studies examined, eight studies targeted general college or university student populations, three targeted only healthcare students such as nursing or medical students [ 42 , 51 , 52 ] and one targeted at young adults aged 18–27 [ 45 ].…”

“…Three studies did not report the total number of students involved in the flu vaccine promotion program or did not separate the student sample size from other samples in the study [ 42 , 45 , 48 ]. Three studies employed randomized controlled trial [ 16 , 45 , 49 ], seven studies used pretest–posttest study design [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 ], and two studies applied quasi-experimental studies [ 46 , 52 ].…”

“…Programs targeting healthcare students were found to use more social marketing components than those targeting university students in general. The three healthcare student programs [ 42 , 51 , 52 ] employed four to five social marketing components. However, for programs focused on all university students, four studies used only two (behavioral objective and 4Ps) [ 43 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], two studies used three components [ 44 , 45 ], one used four [ 47 ], and only two used five [ 16 , 46 ].…”

“…All nine studies [ 42 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 52 ] that implemented full-scale campus-wide or school-wide (e.g., program for the nursing school in a university) flu vaccination promotion programs reported an increase in flu vaccination rates compared to baseline (i.e., previous year(s) data) or control groups. Among the three studies that reported no significant change in vaccination rate, all studies used only a single communication channel to promote uptake of flu vaccine.…”