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

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

doi:10.3390/vaccines11010136

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

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Jan 6;11(1):136. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11010136.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
² Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
³ Department of Veterinary Surgery, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Community Medicine, King Edward Medical University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
⁵ World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.

Abstract

Health Care Professionals (HCPs), including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and paramedics, are a high-risk group for influenza infection due to their continuous exposure to patients having a known or unknown history of influenza-like illnesses. Influenza vaccination is the most effective method of primary prevention. This study was conducted to assess knowledge, attitude, practice, and barriers associated with influenza vaccination among HCPs at tertiary care hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. A multicenter analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among HCPs. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. All statistical analyses were conducted in R software. A total of 400 HCPs were enrolled, and among these, 67% had a high level of knowledge and 65.5% had a positive attitude towards influenza vaccination. About 51% of HCPs adopted good practices leading to influenza vaccination. Results identified major barriers for influenza vaccinations, including unfamiliarity with vaccine availability (RII = 0.760), insufficient staff for administering the vaccine (RII = 0.649), lack of proper storage (RII = 0.625), safety concerns (RII = 0.613), and cost of vaccine (RII = 0.602). More than half of the HCPs showed a high level of knowledge, a positive attitude, and good practice against influenza vaccination. Despite the positive Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) scores and published guidelines, a very low percentage of HCPs were vaccinated against influenza. Many hindering factors were associated with influenza vaccination.

Keywords: Health Care Professionals (HCPs); World Health Organization; barriers; influenza; influenza vaccination; knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP).

Grants and funding

The first author (Gulshan Umbreen) was awarded with a Ph.D studentship by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, under the Indigenous 5000 PhD phase II Fellowship program (Grant No. 520-139643-2MD6-26). This research work was supported by the National Research Program for Universities, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan (Project No. 20-13742/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2020). There were no funds available for the publication of this study.