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. 2023 Jan 6;11(1):136.
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

Gulshan Umbreen  1 , Abdul Rehman  1 , Muhammad Avais  2 , Chanda Jabeen  1 , Shakera Sadiq  1 , Rubab Maqsood  1 , Hamad Bin Rashid  3 , Saira Afzal  4 , Richard J Webby  5 , Mamoona Chaudhry  1
Affiliations

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 et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

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).

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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
Study map area of the hospitals’ location in Lahore District.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Composite total KAP score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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