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Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Influenza Vaccination Among Elderly in Eastern Croatia

Introduction and Objectives: According to European Center for Disease Prevention and Control data, seasonal influenza annually causes 40 to 50 million symptomatic cases in the European Union (EU), and 15 000–70 000 persons die of influenza sequelae. Most influenza-associated deaths in developed countries occur among elderly persons 65 years of age or older. At present, there is consensus among European countries regarding the routine seasonal influenza vaccination of elderly, however, vaccine uptake in many EU countries remains suboptimal. Since 2009, the EU target influenza vaccination coverage among elderly is 75% but none of the EU members achieved this target. The aim of this study is to investigate influenza vaccination coverage among elderly in Eastern Croatia and to evaluate their knowledge and attitudes towards influenza vaccination. Methods: This population cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in convenient sample of elderly (65 or more years) from Eastern Croatia at the primary health care setting during 2018/2019 influenza season. Response rate was 81.6%. Results: There were 48.0% males and 52.0% females. Median age of all study subjects was 73.0 years (interquartile range 69.5-79.0 years). The overall prevalence of influenza vaccination was 33.3%. The vaccination was statistically more frequent among females, old-old subgroup (85 years or older), those whose perceived socioeconomic status was better than average and those suffering from chronic diseases (P=0.003, P=0.001, P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). Females, those with higher education and those who have a partner had statistically better knowledge about influenza vaccination (P=0.044, P=0.001 and P=0.036, respectively). Females, those with higher education, those whose perceived socioeconomic status was better than average and those belonging to the old-old subgroup had statistically more positive attitudes towards influenza vaccination (P<0.001, P=0.023, P<0.001 and P=0.005, respectively). Among those with better knowledge about influenza vaccination and among those with more positive attitudes towards influenza vaccination there were statistically more elderly who were vaccinated during 2018/2019 influenza season (P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Bearing in mind that elderly population makes up 19.4% of the Croatian population, and the fact that elderly are one of the risk group concerning the influenza severity it is essential to strive for achievement of the EU target influenza vaccination coverage. In order to achieve this, it is important to further improve influenza vaccination knowledge and attitudes among elderly in Croatia.

influenza vaccination ; elderly ; knowledge ; attitudes ; Croatia

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