Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Barriers Associated with Influenza Vaccination among Health Care Professionals Working at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan: A Multicenter Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

Umbreen, Gulshan; Rehman, Abdul; Avais, Muhammad; Jabeen, Chanda; Sadiq, Shakera; Maqsood, Rubab; Rashid, Hamad Bin; Afzal, Saira; Webby, Richard J.; Chaudhry, Mamoona

doi:10.3390/vaccines11010136

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Further HCPs also understand their role in disease transmission and that vaccination helps prevent infection from spreading to others 19 . Similarly, the "lack of time" was also reported in other studies, and it was also shown that some interventions 20 might increase vaccination rates 21,22 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…Several factors may be related to influenza vaccination, and identifying these can support the development of policies and strategies that expand vaccination coverage 8 . In Pakistan, where the influenza vaccine is recommended for all health workers, scientific production to identify vaccination-related factors in this group priority is still scarce 9 . Several factors may be related to influenza vaccination, and identifying these can support the development of policies and strategies that expand vaccination coverage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Awareness and Attitudes towards Influenza and Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Professionals in Pakistan

Hassan¹,

Ahmad²,

Danish³

2023

PJMHS

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Background:The coverage of the vaccine for health workers is not satisfactory. The study was conducted with health workers in a large community.A self-administered questionnaire was used based on "Awareness and Attitudes.Several factors may be related to influenza vaccination, and identifying these can support the development of policies and strategies that expand vaccination coverage. Aim: To identify vaccination-related factors based on awareness and attitudes, but priority is still scarce. Methods:It was a cross-section study among 349 healthcare workers to determine their attitudes and awareness toward the vaccine. The results were evaluated statistically to observe the significantassociation using the fisher's exact/Chi-square tests respectively. A p-value <0.05 is taken as significant. Results:Three hundred and forty-nine responses were analyzed (190 men and 159 women). The average age of vaccines was 41.10±11.90 years. 186(53.2%) patients aged>40 yrs, while the majority of 263(75.4%) of the study group were physicians, 78(22.3%) were pharmacists, and only 5(1.4%) were nurses. A percentage increase was seen of healthcare professionals from private set-upwho wereless susceptible to influenza 109(59.6%) compared to other HCPs in public sector, GP clinics and vaccination centers(P=0.010*). Practical implication: Healthcare professionals with a good attitude about the flu shot are more likely to receive the shot themselves and encourage their coworkers and patients to do the same. This can increase overall vaccination rates and assist in stopping the influenza virus from spreading.Healthcare workers are more likely to take preventative measures to stop the transmission of the virus, such as wearing masks and washing their hands, if they are informed of the risks of influenza and the advantages of vaccination. Conclusion:There is a lack of awareness about the nosocomial nature of influenza among HCPs. Awareness and counseling can increase in the vaccination rate among healthcare workers. Keywords:Influenza vaccination, Healthcare workers,attitudes and knowledge

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Awareness and Attitudes towards Influenza and Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Professionals in Pakistan

Hassan¹,

Ahmad²,

Danish³

2023

PJMHS

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“…These coverage estimates are higher than previous surveys from Pakistan, which report around 8.8–20.1% of the healthcare workers to be vaccinated and are comparable with other WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region countries. 13 , 16-18 The HCWs in our study had a low level of awareness, as only 25% of them ever made a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of influenza in their practice and 39% of the HCWs did not perceive themselves to be susceptible to severe disease. Previously, Ali et al reported that 60% of the HCWs believed asymptomatic hospital workers cannot transmit the virus and the vaccine contains a live virus which may cause influenza.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward seasonal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers and pregnant women in Pakistan: A mixed methods approach

Shahid,

Khwaja,

Kalhoro

et al. 2023

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

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Vaccine hesitancy is a significant public health issue globally. We aim to document the barriers toward seasonal influenza vaccine uptake among healthcare workers (HCWs) and pregnant women (PW) in Pakistan. We performed a concurrent mixed methods study in four cities (Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, and Peshawar) across Pakistan from September to December 2021. The quantitative component consisted of independent cross-sectional surveys for PW and HCWs, and the qualitative component comprised of in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) among HCWs. Simple linear regression was used to determine the association of sociodemographic variables with knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Overall, 750 PW and 420 HCWs were enrolled. Among the PW, 44% were willing to receive the vaccine if available free of cost. Only 44% of the HCWs were vaccinated; however, 86% intended to get vaccinated and were willing to recommend the vaccine to their patients. HCWs refused vaccine due to side-effects (65%), cost (57%), and allergies (36%). An education level of secondary school and above was predictive of higher attitude and knowledge scores while having received the COVID-19 vaccine was associated with higher practice scores for both PW and HCWs. Several themes emerged from the interviews: 1) HCWs’ knowledge of influenza and its prevention, 2) HCWs’ perception of motivators and barriers to influenza vaccine uptake and 3) HCWs’ attitudes towrd vaccine promotion. We report low influenza vaccine coverage among HCWs and PW in Pakistan. Educational campaigns addressing misconceptions, and improving affordability and accessibility through government interventions, can improve vaccine uptake.

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“…Inferential statistical (chi-squared test) analysis was performed to assess the correlation between the demographic variables and KAP questions. The overall percent score cutoff was computed using the modified Bloom's cutoff point criteria, which had already been used in previous studies ( 24 , 25 ). We chose nine questions for the knowledge part, with each accurate response (yes:1) receiving one point and the incorrect response (no:0) receiving zero points.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The vaccinators were defined as having “good knowledge” if their score was above 75% (ranging from 77.7% to 100% with 7–8 points), “moderate knowledge” if their score ranged from 55% to 74% (5–6 points), and “poor knowledge” if their score was < 55% (< 5 points). The total practice score was categorized as “good practice” if it ranged from 75% to 100% (9–12 points) or “poor practice” if it was < 75% (8 points) ( 24 , 25 ). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the differences in sociodemographic characteristics between training and non-training variables.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of vaccinators about expanded programs on immunization: a cross-sectional study

Azhar,

Rashid,

Islam

et al. 2024

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionThe periodic evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of healthcare workers, including vaccinators, concerning expanded programs on immunization (EPI) is very crucial for a better healthcare system. This study was carried out to assess the KAP of vaccinators about the EPI, including cold storage of vaccines and their practices related to vaccine cold chain management.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2022 to June 2022 among registered vaccinators in the twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) of Pakistan. A structured self-administered questionnaire (English and Urdu) was developed as per the Pakistan national EPI policy and strategic guidelines 2022 and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, as well as from earlier studies (Cronbach's alpha value of 0.734). The final questionnaire consisted of closed-ended questions in four sections, including sociodemographic information, knowledge (with dichotomous variables of yes/no), attitudes (with a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree), and handling of vaccines and cold chain management. Completed questionnaires were entered into Microsoft Excel and then imported into SPSS version 25 for statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 186 vaccinators completely filled out their questionnaires, with a 97.9% response rate. More than half of the participants (57.5%) had no training related to EPI. Most of the respondents had a moderate to poor level of knowledge regarding EPI. The overall attitude was positive, and 57% of the participants strongly agreed that the national immunization programs can significantly contribute to the decrease in morbidity and mortality rates among children. In the current study, participants showed good practices toward EPI, vaccine storage, and cold chain management. The majority (93.5%) of the participants checked the expiry of vaccines at regular intervals to maintain the first expiry first out (FEFO) in their healthcare setting.DiscussionIn conclusion, most of the vaccinators had moderate to poor knowledge, a positive attitude, and good practices toward EPI, vaccine cold storage, and cold chain management. Lack of training among vaccinators on EPI was also observed. These findings have suggested that continuous training, education, and regular supervision of vaccinators in EPI are important for maximum immunization effectiveness and coverage.

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Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Barriers Associated with Influenza Vaccination among Health Care Professionals Working at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan: A Multicenter Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 7 publications

References 26 publications

Awareness and Attitudes towards Influenza and Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Professionals in Pakistan

Awareness and Attitudes towards Influenza and Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Professionals in Pakistan

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward seasonal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers and pregnant women in Pakistan: A mixed methods approach

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of vaccinators about expanded programs on immunization: a cross-sectional study

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