Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes
Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of getting influenza than the general population, therefore putting patients at risk of nosocomial infection. Influenza vaccination coverage among HCWs is low despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. However, the reasons fo...
Saved in:
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Malaysian Medical Association
2016
|
Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56865/1/Influenza%20vaccination%20among%20Malaysian%20healthcare%20workers%20a%20survey%20of%20coverage%20and%20attitudes.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56865/ http://www.e-mjm.org/2016/v71n5/index.html |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Institution: | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
Language: | English |
id |
my.upm.eprints.56865 |
---|---|
record_format |
eprints |
spelling |
my.upm.eprints.568652017-09-05T10:04:54Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56865/ Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes Shuaibu, Hudu Abdullahi Mohammed Harmal, Nabil Saad Osman, Malina Sekawi, Zamberi Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of getting influenza than the general population, therefore putting patients at risk of nosocomial infection. Influenza vaccination coverage among HCWs is low despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. However, the reasons for such a poor uptake are not well reported in Malaysia. This study aimed at assessing the rate of influenza vaccination uptake, knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers regarding influenza, and employers’ policy on influenza vaccination. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in three hospitals in the Klang Valley. Mann–Whitney test was used to assess possible differences in knowledge and attitude towards flu vaccination and the χ 2 was used for categorical variables. Analyses were performed with SPSS 22.0. Results: A total of 690 questionnaires were distributed; 527 were returned (giving a response rate of 76.4%. The vaccine uptake was 51.4% with the majority (83.5%) of those believing they were vaccinated to protect themselves. Higher proportion of vaccinated HCWs (p <0.05) agreeing to the fact that influenza is a serious threat to their health, however, 10% were not sure of its safety. Eighty-three (15.7%) claimed their employers did not have a vaccination policy, while 43.3% were not sure if their employers have vaccination policy. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated more than half of the healthcare workers were vaccinated, with a significant proportion of the healthcare workers believed they were vaccinated to protect themselves, while most of those that were not vaccinated claimed they are worried about the safety of the vaccine. Most employers did not have a flu vaccination policy in place. Hence, the need for government to enforce such policy and make annual flu vaccination free and compulsory for all healthcare workers. Malaysian Medical Association 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56865/1/Influenza%20vaccination%20among%20Malaysian%20healthcare%20workers%20a%20survey%20of%20coverage%20and%20attitudes.pdf Shuaibu, Hudu Abdullahi and Mohammed Harmal, Nabil Saad and Osman, Malina and Sekawi, Zamberi (2016) Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes. Medical Journal of Malaysia, 71 (5). pp. 231-237. ISSN 0300-5283 http://www.e-mjm.org/2016/v71n5/index.html |
institution |
Universiti Putra Malaysia |
building |
UPM Library |
collection |
Institutional Repository |
continent |
Asia |
country |
Malaysia |
content_provider |
Universiti Putra Malaysia |
content_source |
UPM Institutional Repository |
url_provider |
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/ |
language |
English |
description |
Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of getting influenza than the general population, therefore putting patients at risk of nosocomial infection. Influenza vaccination coverage among HCWs is low despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. However, the reasons for such a poor uptake are not well reported in Malaysia. This study aimed at assessing the rate of influenza vaccination uptake, knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers regarding influenza, and employers’ policy on influenza vaccination.
Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in three hospitals in the Klang Valley. Mann–Whitney test was used to assess possible differences in knowledge and attitude towards flu vaccination and the χ 2 was used for categorical variables. Analyses were performed with SPSS 22.0.
Results: A total of 690 questionnaires were distributed; 527 were returned (giving a response rate of 76.4%. The vaccine uptake was 51.4% with the majority (83.5%) of those believing they were vaccinated to protect themselves. Higher proportion of vaccinated HCWs (p <0.05) agreeing to the fact that influenza is a serious threat to their health, however, 10% were not sure of its safety. Eighty-three (15.7%) claimed their employers did not have a vaccination policy, while 43.3% were not sure if their employers have vaccination policy.
Conclusion: This study has demonstrated more than half of the healthcare workers were vaccinated, with a significant proportion of the healthcare workers believed they were vaccinated to protect themselves, while most of those that were not vaccinated claimed they are worried about the safety of the vaccine. Most employers did not have a flu vaccination policy in place. Hence, the need for government to enforce such policy and make annual flu vaccination free and compulsory for all healthcare workers. |
format |
Article |
author |
Shuaibu, Hudu Abdullahi Mohammed Harmal, Nabil Saad Osman, Malina Sekawi, Zamberi |
spellingShingle |
Shuaibu, Hudu Abdullahi Mohammed Harmal, Nabil Saad Osman, Malina Sekawi, Zamberi Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
author_facet |
Shuaibu, Hudu Abdullahi Mohammed Harmal, Nabil Saad Osman, Malina Sekawi, Zamberi |
author_sort |
Shuaibu, Hudu Abdullahi |
title |
Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
title_short |
Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
title_full |
Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
title_fullStr |
Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influenza vaccination among Malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
title_sort |
influenza vaccination among malaysian healthcare workers: a survey of coverage and attitudes |
publisher |
Malaysian Medical Association |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56865/1/Influenza%20vaccination%20among%20Malaysian%20healthcare%20workers%20a%20survey%20of%20coverage%20and%20attitudes.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56865/ http://www.e-mjm.org/2016/v71n5/index.html |
_version_ |
1643836317394534400 |