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. 2022 Sep 20:10:978456.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.978456. eCollection 2022.

Impact of educational interventions on the prevention of influenza: A systematic review

Mohammad Javad Nasiri  1 , Bardia Danaei  1 , Niloofar Deravi  1 , Alireza Salimi Chirani  2 , Amir Hashem Shahidi Bonjar  3 , Zohreh Khoshgoftar  4 , Forouzan Karimi  5
Affiliations

Impact of educational interventions on the prevention of influenza: A systematic review

Mohammad Javad Nasiri et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Seasonal influenza, a contagious viral disease affecting the upper respiratory tract, circulates annually, causing considerable morbidity and mortality. The present study investigates the effectiveness of educational interventions to prevent influenza.

Methods: We searched PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) for relevant clinical studies up to March 1 2022. The following terms were used: "influenza," "flu," "respiratory infection," "prevent," "intervention," and "education."

Results: Out of 255 studies, 21 articles satisfied the inclusion criteria and were included in our study: 13 parallel randomized controlled trials (RCT) studies, two cross-over RCT studies, two cohort studies, and four quasi-experimental studies. A total of approximately 12,500 adults (18 years old or above) and 11,000 children were evaluated. Educational sessions and reminders were the most common interventions. The measured outcomes were vaccination rates, the incidence of respiratory tract infection (RTI), and preventive behaviors among participants. Eighteen out of 21 articles showed a significant association between educational interventions and the outcomes.

Conclusions: The included studies in the current systematic review reported the efficacy of health promotion educational interventions in improving knowledge about influenza, influenza prevention behaviors, vaccination rates, and decreased RTI incidence regardless of the type of intervention and the age of cases.

Keywords: education; influenza; prevention; systematic (literature) review; vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the number of studies identified and selected into the systematic review and meta-analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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