Influenza Vaccination Behaviour of Healthcare Workers in Switzerland: A Cross-Sectional Study

Phung Lang; Charlotte Tsu-Shin Wu; Anna Florence Le-Nguyen; Astrid Czock

doi:10.3389/ijph.2023.1605175

Influenza Vaccination Behaviour of Healthcare Workers in Switzerland: A Cross-Sectional Study

Int J Public Health. 2023 Mar 10:68:1605175. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605175. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Phung Lang¹, Charlotte Tsu-Shin Wu², Anna Florence Le-Nguyen², Astrid Czock³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, United States.
³ QualiCCare, Baden, Switzerland.

Abstract

Objectives: As no data are available regarding the influenza vaccination status of Swiss healthcare workers (HCW) in the ambulatory setting, this study aims to investigate their influenza vaccination behaviours. Methods: We conducted an online survey using a four-item, semi-structured questionnaire to assess HCWs influenza vaccination coverage and behaviour. Associations between influenza vaccination status, age and language as well as recommendation behaviour and reasons for vaccination were assessed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses. Results: Of the 1057 completed questionnaires, 425 (40.2%) HCW were vaccinated and 632 (59.8%) not. 78.1% of the physicians and 47.3% pharmacists were vaccinated, compared to only 29.1% of the nurses, 24.3% pharmacy technicians and 13.0% medical practice assistants (MPA). There was a significant association between influenza vaccination status and HCW profession, age, language and how often an influenza vaccination recommendation was made. Conclusion: Demographic factors seem to influence HCWs' attitudes towards influenza vaccination, which in turn affects the prospect of them recommending the influenza vaccination. Diverse strategies might be necessary to encourage HCW to get vaccinated and hence, promote influenza vaccination.

Keywords: healthcare workers; influenza vaccinations; prevention; vaccination attitude; vaccination behaviour; vaccination status.

MeSH terms

Attitude of Health Personnel
Cross-Sectional Studies
Health Personnel
Humans
Influenza Vaccines* / therapeutic use
Influenza, Human* / prevention & control
Surveys and Questionnaires
Switzerland
Vaccination

Substances

Influenza Vaccines

Grants and funding

The authors declare that this study was funded by the multi-stakeholder non-profit organization QualiCCare, which is funded by fixed membership fees from its member organizations. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. The funding consisted of paying the salary of its employee, AC, who performed the survey and coordinated the QualiCCare group of experts, as well as an honorary fee for the other three authors according to the QualiCCare honorary fees’ list.