Influenza Vaccination Rate and Factors Associated with Compliance among Health Care Employees in Large and Medium Acute Care Hospitals

Annual influenza epidemics are associated with high morbidity and mortality worldwide, with vaccinations being the main preventive intervention; however, the compliance rate of health care employees remains low. Study aims were to examine vaccination rates among physicians and nurses in surgical and medicine wards, compare between medium and large tertiary hospitals, and identify factors associated with increased vaccination rates. Structured questionnaires were distributed. A total of 238/339 (70.2%) were vaccinated. In multivariate analysis, respiratory illness during precedent winter (odds ratio [OR] 3.146, P =.007), working in a medium hospital (OR 2.4, P =.003), and an attending resident with an infectious diseases subspecialty (OR 20.473, P =.007) were associated with a higher vaccination rate. Institutional email or portal messages were associated with decreased vaccination rates (OR = 0.259, P =.007). The leading reason for vaccination was "to stay healthy" (73.5%). Recruiting experts in the field, providing up-to-date information, and increasing management's involvement could encourage vaccination among health care employees.