Background: Hemodialysis (HD) patients have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to infections. Despite the positive effect of vaccinations, the implementation of this method of prophylaxis is low.
Objectives: This study aimed to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of flu vaccination among HD patients of two different dialysis centers.
Methods: A total of 193 patients (mean age 63.6 years), who voluntarily agreed to participate in an anonymous survey related to influenza vaccination, were enrolled in this cross-sectional study.
Results: A total of 45% of patients declared that they took regular, annual flu vaccination. In this group, 87.4% believed that vaccinations were effective. This opinion strongly correlated with the frequency of regular vaccinations (r = 0.56, p < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that this opinion is an independent predictor of regular vaccinations with adjusted OR 9.86 (95% CI 4.36, 22.33). Groups of patients who had been irregularly or never vaccinated reject vaccinations for the following reasons: fear of adverse events-29.2%, conviction that vaccination was ineffective-26.4%, and lack of information about vaccination-22.6%.
Conclusion: Knowledge among HD patients about the benefits of vaccinations is poor. Therefore, educational activities are required. Active vaccination promotion and education of patients rejecting this method of prevention play a key role in improving standards of care for HD patients.
Keywords: hemodialysis; infections; vaccinations.