• Işıl Adadan Güvenç, Hülya Parıldar, Mustafa Kürşat Şahin, and Selim Sermed Erbek.
• Zubeyde Hanım Research and Training Hospital, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Baskent University, Izmir, Turkey. Electronic address: isiladadan@yahoo.com.
• Am J Infect Control. 2017 Jul 1; 45 (7): 740-745.

BackgroundThe knowledge, beliefs, opinions, and attitudes of patients and their relatives regarding seasonal influenza vaccination were evaluated.MethodsThis descriptive study was undertaken in the outpatient clinics of Baskent University Hospital. There were 566 responders who completed a self-administered questionnaire.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 48.35 years, and 16.8% were ≥65 years. Of the responders, 21.7% were vaccinated this year, whereas 57.8% did not desire to get it. Vaccination rates were significantly higher among responders ≥65 years of age (56.4%), those having at least 1 chronic illness (46.5%), and those who were vaccinated regularly every year (22.2%). Half of the responders did not know that the vaccine was reimbursed for people at risk. The most common reason for refusing the influenza vaccine was not getting the flu frequently (51.2%). Fear of side effects, concerns about vaccine's effectiveness, and belief that vaccine causes the flu were other common reasons for not being vaccinated. Of the responders, 77% believed that getting official information or a recommendation from a physician would influence their decision about seasonal influenza vaccination.ConclusionsPeople who are at risk or vaccinated regularly display a higher vaccine uptake and better knowledge of influenza and vaccination. The opinions and attitudes of this study population may assist in developing strategies for changing attitudes of the public toward influenza vaccination.Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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