Predictors of seasonal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in hospitals: A descriptive meta-analysis

Objective: Vaccinating healthcare workers (HCWs) against influenza is one of the most important methods of decreasing influenza transmission among at-risk patients in healthcare facilities. However, despite recommendations, the rate of uptake of influenza vaccine among HCWs remains low. The objective of this metaanalysis was to determine the most important predictors of seasonal influenza vaccine acceptance among HCWs in hospitals. Method: A literature search of PubMed and Embase resulted in 4586 hits. Screening of the titles, abstracts and full text identified 13 studies eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Based on the crude data, pooled risk ratios (Mantel-Haenszel risk ratios, mhRR) and their 95% CIs were calculated using Mantel-Haenszel analysis to estimate the associations of predictors with influenza vaccination status. Results and conclusion: Knowing that the vaccine is effective (mhRR 2.22; 95% CI 1.93 to 2.54), being willing to prevent influenza transmission (mhRR 2.31; 95% CI 1.97 to 2.70), believing that influenza is highly contagious (RR 2.25; 95% CI 1.66 to 3.05), believing that influenza prevention is important (mhRR 3.63; 95% CI 2.87 to 4.59) and having a family that is usually vaccinated (RR 2.32; 95% CI 1.64 to 3.28) were statistically significantly associated with a twofold higher vaccine uptake. We therefore recommend targeting these predictors when developing new influenza vaccination implementation strategies for hospital HCWs.