Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 26;9(3):1331-1339.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1011_19. eCollection 2020 Mar.

Knowledge and practice toward seasonal influenza vaccine and its barriers at the community level in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Alaa A Aljamili  1
Affiliations

Knowledge and practice toward seasonal influenza vaccine and its barriers at the community level in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Alaa A Aljamili. J Family Med Prim Care. .

Abstract

Background: The important role of vaccination and preventive health care has been shown in several studies conducted worldwide. Despite the annual high infection rate of influenza, there are still many people who opt not to get vaccinated and be protected. We conducted this study to explore the knowledge, practices, and barriers of a Saudi Arabian population toward influenza vaccination.

Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study using a questionnaire that was distributed online through social media to adult males and females aged 18 years old and above in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Results: A total of 778 individuals responded to the survey, 193 (24.8%) males and 585 (75.2%) females. Male respondents tended to have a better knowledge of influenza and flu vaccine than females. However, there were more females who have been vaccinated. More males believed that they do not belong to the high-risk group compared to females (P < 0.001). The younger age group of respondents significantly had a better knowledge of flu vaccine and influenza (P < 0.05). On the other hand, the older age group of respondents (age 45-60 and age >60 years old) have more reasons and barriers to have the vaccine.

Conclusion: Knowledge of influenza and flu vaccine is relatively high, but the translation of this knowledge into practice is poor. The paradigm shift should be focused not only on knowledge of vaccines and vaccination but to attitudes and practices that will address barriers to getting the vaccine.

Keywords: Adherence; barriers; influenza vaccine; knowledge; practice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abalkhail MS, Alzahrany MS, Alghamdi KA, Alsoliman MA, Alzahrani MA, Almosned BS, et al. Uptake of influenza vaccination, awareness and its associated barriers among medical students of a University Hospital in Central Saudi Arabia. J Infect Public Health. 2017;10:644–8. - PubMed
    1. Abu-Rish EY, Elayeh ER, Mousa LA, Butanji YK, Albsoul-Younes AM. Knowledge, awareness and practices towards seasonal influenza and its vaccine:Implications for future vaccination campaigns in Jordan. Fam Pract. 2016;33:690–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Influenza [Internet]. World Health Organization. World Health Organization; 2018. [cited 2019 Feb 01]. Available from: https://www.who.int/influenza/en/
    1. Grohskopf LA, Sokolow LZ, Olsen SJ, Bresee JS, Broder KR, Karron RA. Prevention and control of influenza with vaccines:Recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices, United States 2015-16 influenza season. Am J Transplant. 2015;15:2767–75. - PubMed
    1. Alqahtani AS, Althobaity HM, Aboud DA, Abdel-Moneim AS. Knowledge and attitudes of Saudi populations regarding seasonal influenza vaccination. J Infect Public Health. 2017;10:897–900. - PubMed