Factors associated with influenza vaccination acceptance in Mexican healthcare workers: A multicenter cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT

Adherence of healthcare workers (HCWs) to influenza vaccination is far from optimal despite its being the most effective intervention for preventing influenza. In order to evaluate factors associated with influenza vaccination acceptance among Mexican HCWs during the 2017-2018 influenza season, a multicenter cross-sectional study spanning public and private hospitals was conducted. Participants were consecutively invited to answer a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 1513 out of 1553 questionnaires were evaluated. The median age of the participants was 32 (26-44) years and 65.8% were women. Nurses and physicians comprised 53.0% of the surveyed population. Total self-reported adherence to influenza vaccination among HCWs during the 2017-2018 season was 63.5% and varied across participating hospitals (P < 0.001). Factors positively associated with influenza vaccination were incremental doses of influenza vaccine received within the last 5 years (aOR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.78-2.10), City 3 (aOR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.19-2.20) and City 1 (aOR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02-1.91), whereas factors negatively associated were lack of a previous dose of influenza vaccine (aOR = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.01-0.08) and unawareness of the vaccination campaign (aOR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.44-0.72). Lack of information and poor communication were barriers identified by both vaccinated and unvaccinated personnel. This study concluded that adherence to influenza vaccination in Mexican HCWs is suboptimal and that the factors associated with receipt of influenza vaccine are similar to those reported in other studies.