Knowledge, attitudes, and practice of healthcare workers toward influenza vaccination at Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital (AJCH), Dubai, UAE

BACKGROUND: Influenza viruses usually circulate worldwide annually from the late fall through the early spring. Although most people with influenza recover without sequelae, it can cause serious illness and death, particularly among older adults, very young children, pregnant women, and those with certain chronic medical conditions. AIM OF THE STUDY: To describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital healthcare workers toward influenza vaccination during 2016–2017 and understand their relative importance in promoting influenza vaccine uptake. METHOD: A validated survey self-administered questionnaire was distributed to healthcare workers at AJCH. A descriptive analysis was performed, including an evaluation of associations using the chi-square test, and an alpha level of 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The questionnaire was distributed to 350 healthcare workers, and 263 (76%) of them completed the survey. Among the responders, 63% answered that they were not vaccinated for seasonal flu in both years, 32% answered that they were vaccinated once, in either 2016 or 2017, and only 5% answered that they were vaccinated during both years. The analysis of results by gender indicates that influenza vaccination uptake in both years (2016 and 2017) was more common in females than in males. Despite a higher educational level, influenza vaccination remained low among physician, nurses, and postgraduate workers. CONCLUSION: The healthcare workers' knowledge of influenza disease does not reflect their knowledge, attitude, and practice toward influenza vaccination. These results highlight the important predictors that must be targeted to promote hospital awareness campaigns to improve their practice and attitude, which could result in increasing seasonal influenza vaccine uptake.