Knowledge, attitude, and barriers of seasonal influenza vaccination among pregnant women visiting primary healthcare centers in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. 2019/2020

BACKGROUND: The seasonal influenza vaccine is beneficial for both the pregnant women and their infants. It is considered as primary prevention for pregnant women and it decreases the serious outcomes when infection does occur. The present study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and barriers linked to uptake of seasonal influenza vaccine among pregnant women visiting primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study done in Al-Ahsa with a target population of 410 Saudi pregnant women who attend antenatal care (ANC) clinics in PHCs in Al-Ahsa. The selection of participants was made by using multistage random sampling. A self-administered questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. RESULTS: Two-thirds of the participants (66.1%) stated that they were not offered the flu vaccine by any doctor. Sixty percent of the participants (60.6%) show lack of knowledge regarding flu vaccine during pregnancy. One hundred and fifty-four of the participants (61.1%) have negative attitude toward the flu vaccine uptake during pregnancy. Concern regarding the side effects of the vaccine was the most mentioned barrier (80.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The uptake rate of influenza vaccine among pregnant women visiting Al-Ahsa PHCs is considerably low. In order to improve the uptake, we recommend increasing awareness among physicians working in PHCs of the importance of vaccination, enhancing the knowledge of women in childbearing age about influenza and its vaccine, and emphasizing the need to provide the influenza vaccine as part of routine ANC.