Beliefs and Behaviors of Healthcare Workers Towards Influenza Vaccination: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES: Influenza is a viral disease, responsible for nearly 1 billion infections and half a million deaths annually, worldwide. Annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infections caused by seasonal influenza. Given that healthcare workers (HCWs) play a key role in vaccine acceptance and advocacy, this study explored the beliefs and behaviors of HCWs towards influenza vaccination.

METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted according to the guidelines of the PRISMA statement. The PubMed/Medline, Cochrane and Google Scholar databases were researched, by combining the keywords referenced hereafter: Beliefs, Attitudes, Behaviors, Influenza Vaccination and HCWs. Additionally, the following eligibility criteria were applied: a) text in the English language, b) year of publication from 2000 to June 2024. Initially, out of the 716 records found, twenty-six articles were used to analyze influenza vaccination acceptance and engagement with vaccination advocacy. Past vaccination behavior and HCWs’ recommendation were also evaluated.

RESULTS: The preliminary results of this research indicated that strong positive attitudes towards influenza vaccination enhance HCWs’ role in vaccination acceptance and advocacy (engaged sentiment: 66%). In particular, the vaccination acceptance and engagement to recommendation range broadly from 10% to 90% among HCWs, depending on the geographical region and profession, with specialist physicians being the most likely to belong to the confident sentiment cluster. Furthermore, the main reasons for flu vaccination recommendation by HCWs are presented, and issues related to denial or acceptance of it are also highlighted.

CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that there is room for improvement as regards both vaccination acceptance and advocacy rates among HCWs, which would be expected to lead to higher rates of influenza vaccination in the community, especially in the emerging countries. The expected benefits from such an outcome are improved vaccination rates and better control of morbidity and mortality related to seasonal influenza infection.