Pietraszek Alicja, Sobieszczańska Małgorzata, Makuch Sebastian, Dróżdż Mateusz, Mazur Grzegorz, Agrawal Siddarth
Clinical Department of Geriatrics, Wroclaw Medical University, Skłodowskiej-Curie Str. 66, 50-369 Wroclaw, Poland.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Marcinkowskiego St. 1, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland.
Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Apr 20;10(5):651. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10050651.
Older adults are at a high risk of experiencing severe complications of influenza. Receiving a vaccination is a beneficial strategy to prevent the disease and reduce the severity of influenza illnesses. This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study aimed to evaluate the influence of sociodemographic, clinical, and mental parameters as well as other potential risk factors on refusal to vaccinate against influenza among the elderly population in Poland. Furthermore, due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, we put efforts into finding any statistical correlations between the fear of COVID-19 infection in patients and their attitudes toward receiving an influenza vaccination. The study was conducted in November−December 2020 in Poland on a representative nationwide sample of 500 individuals aged > 60. Of the respondents, 62 (12.4%) and 51 (10.2%) underwent influenza vaccination in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Out of ten different factors analyzed in this study, three were significantly associated with attitudes towards influenza vaccination. Participants with net income below the national average of PLN 3000 (OR = 2.37, CI 95% [1.26−4.47]), compared to those earning more than PLN 3000, had significantly higher odds of having a negative attitude towards influenza vaccination. Furthermore, respondents with <174 cm height (OR = 2.56, CI 95% [1.51−4.33]) and those with strong fear of COVID-19 infection (OR = 1.65, CI95% [1.02−2.66]) were also more likely to refrain from influenza vaccination. We believe the identification of factors limiting the willingness to receive influenza vaccination is an effective way to help clinicians focus their efforts on educating the groups of patients with the highest odds of refusing to receive the vaccine. Moreover, it may aid the design and enforcement of national solutions or the implementation of novel legislative measures and preventive programs, increasing public confidence and promoting vaccination, especially among groups at high risk of developing this disease.
老年人患流感严重并发症的风险很高。接种疫苗是预防该疾病和减轻流感病情严重程度的有益策略。这项基于问卷调查的横断面研究旨在评估社会人口统计学、临床和心理参数以及其他潜在风险因素对波兰老年人群拒绝接种流感疫苗的影响。此外，由于当时新冠疫情盛行，我们致力于寻找患者对新冠病毒感染的恐惧与其接受流感疫苗接种态度之间的任何统计相关性。该研究于2020年11月至12月在波兰进行，对500名年龄大于60岁的具有全国代表性的样本进行了调查。在受访者中，分别有62人（12.4%）和51人（10.2%）在2019年和2020年接种了流感疫苗。在本研究分析的十个不同因素中，有三个与流感疫苗接种态度显著相关。与收入超过3000波兰兹罗提的参与者相比，净收入低于全国平均水平3000波兰兹罗提的参与者对流感疫苗接种持消极态度的几率显著更高（OR = 2.37，95%置信区间[1.26 - 4.47]）。此外，身高低于174厘米的受访者（OR = 2.56，95%置信区间[1.51 - 4.33]）以及对新冠病毒感染有强烈恐惧的受访者（OR = 1.65，95%置信区间[1.02 - 2.66]）也更有可能不接种流感疫苗。我们认为，识别限制接受流感疫苗接种意愿的因素是帮助临床医生将精力集中于教育最有可能拒绝接种疫苗的患者群体的有效方法。此外，这可能有助于国家方案的设计和实施或新立法措施及预防计划的执行，增强公众信心并促进疫苗接种，尤其是在患该疾病风险较高的群体中。
