Influenza vaccination rates among healthcare workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating influencing factors

Front Public Health. 2023 Nov 6:11:1295464. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1295464. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare workers risk of exposure to the influenza virus in their work, is a high-risk group for flu infections. Thus WHO recommends prioritizing flu vaccination for them-an approach adopted by >40 countries and/or regions worldwide.

Methods: Cross-sectional studies on influenza vaccination rates among healthcare workers were collected from PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, and CBM databases from inception to February 26, 2023. Influenza vaccination rates and relevant data for multiple logistic regression analysis, such as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), were extracted.

Results: A total of 92 studies comprising 125 vaccination data points from 26 countries were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that the overall vaccination rate among healthcare workers was 41.7%. Further analysis indicated that the vaccination rate was 46.9% or 35.6% in low income or high income countries. Vaccination rates in the Americas, the Middle East, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and Africa were 67.1, 51.3, 48.7, 42.5, 28.5, and 6.5%, respectively. Influencing factors were age, length of service, education, department, occupation, awareness of the risk of influenza, and/or vaccines.

Conclusion: The global influenza vaccination rate among healthcare workers is low, and comprehensive measures are needed to promote influenza vaccination among this population.

Systematic review registration: www.inplysy.com, identifier: 202350051.

Keywords: healthcare workers; influencing factors; influenza vaccine; meta-analysis; vaccination rate.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Systematic Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Health Personnel
  • Humans
  • Influenza Vaccines*
  • Influenza, Human* / epidemiology
  • Influenza, Human* / prevention & control
  • Vaccination

Substances

  • Influenza Vaccines

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The study was supported by Health Industry Scientific Research Management Project of Gansu Province [Grant No. GSWSKY2021-058], Wu Jieping Medical Foundation Project [Grant No. 320.6750.2022-20-21] and Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (22JR5RA589).