Al Nufaiei Ziyad F, Alshenkiti Abdulghani, Sallam Faris N, Badraig Nizar Suhail, Al Zhranei Raid M, Alshamrani Khalid M, Sannan Naif, Alsulami Maher, Al-Thaqafy Majid S, Abdelrahman Emad
College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2023 Sep 11;16:2681-2690. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S415745. eCollection 2023.
Influenza remains a significant global public health challenge, causing substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite the availability of influenza vaccines, challenges related to vaccine hesitancy and healthcare professionals' attitudes persist. Furthermore, there is a need to understand the knowledge and opinions of undergraduate healthcare students regarding influenza vaccinations. Therefore, we aimed to assess and compare the knowledge and opinions of undergraduate healthcare students about influenza vaccinations, addressing the existing knowledge gap in this area.
We employed a cross-sectional study design to assess the opinions and knowledge of undergraduate healthcare students in Saudi Arabia regarding influenza vaccination. A total of 137 healthcare programs were invited to participate via filled-out the survey online. Data analysis was performed using SPSS, with descriptive statistics for the demographic profile and Chi-Square and independent -tests for examining associations and differences in opinions and knowledge, respectively.
A total of 429 undergraduate students completed the survey and were included. Significant associations were found between the students' major and their beliefs regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing influenza (p=0.017) and the inclusion of influenza vaccines in medical practice (p=0.016). The majority of students agreed with seven out of nine knowledge statements, with agreement percentages ranging from 42.9% to 44.8%. When comparing knowledge scores, students majoring in medicine had a significantly higher mean knowledge score (3.91) compared to students studying other medical sciences (3.72) (p=0.019).
Our study suggests that a comprehensive approach involving education, awareness initiatives, and policy changes is needed to enhance knowledge about influenza vaccination among Saudi Arabian undergraduate students in Medical School allied medical sciences and medical degree programs. By implementing these strategies, we can promote a positive attitude towards flu vaccination and ultimately increase its uptake.
流感仍然是一项重大的全球公共卫生挑战，在全球范围内造成大量发病和死亡。尽管有流感疫苗可用，但与疫苗犹豫和医护人员态度相关的挑战依然存在。此外，有必要了解本科医护专业学生对流感疫苗接种的知识和看法。因此，我们旨在评估和比较本科医护专业学生对流感疫苗接种的知识和看法，以填补该领域现有的知识空白。
我们采用横断面研究设计，以评估沙特阿拉伯本科医护专业学生对流感疫苗接种的看法和知识。通过在线填写调查问卷，共邀请了137个医护专业项目参与。使用SPSS进行数据分析，对人口统计学特征进行描述性统计，并分别使用卡方检验和独立样本t检验来检验看法和知识方面的关联及差异。
共有429名本科学生完成了调查并被纳入研究。发现学生的专业与他们对疫苗预防流感有效性的信念（p = 0.017）以及医学实践中纳入流感疫苗的信念（p = 0.016）之间存在显著关联。大多数学生同意九条知识陈述中的七条，同意率在42.9%至44.8%之间。在比较知识得分时，医学专业的学生平均知识得分（3.91）显著高于其他医学专业的学生（3.72）（p = 0.019）。
我们的研究表明，需要采取一种综合方法，包括教育、提高认识举措和政策变革，以增强沙特阿拉伯医学院、联合医学科学和医学学位项目本科学生对流感疫苗接种的知识。通过实施这些策略，我们可以促进对流感疫苗接种的积极态度，并最终提高其接种率。
