Prevalence of influenza vaccination and associated factors among community-dwelling Hong Kong residents of age 65 or above.

A total of 877 Hong Kong Chinese community-dwelling elderly were telephone-interviewed. Of them, 63.2% had heard of influenza vaccination (IV), 31.2% had ever had IV (of which 93.3% did so in the last 6 months) and 51.4% were inclined toward receiving free IV in the coming year. Multivariate analyses showed that older age, perceptions of side effects, perceptions of effectiveness duration, and knowing where to get vaccinated were significantly associated with having ever been vaccinated. These variables are related to the Health Belief Model. The prevalence of IV appeared to be increasing as a result of the recent SARS epidemic.