A Review of Knowledge, Attitude and Prevalence of Flu Vaccination and Its Effect among Elderly

Elderly individuals are very vulnerable to influenza infection, and more prone to influenza-related morbidity and mortality. However, the prevalence of elderly persons receiving influenza vaccine remains low. Many factors have been proposed as the cause beyond this low prevalence, with knowledge and misconceptions about the vaccine on the top of the list. Objectives: the aim of this review is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and prevalence of flu vaccine and its effect among elderly. Methods: To achieve this aim, online database search was conducted to review articles stating knowledge, attitude, and incidence of flu vaccine and its effects among elderly. PubMed was searched for appropriately-related studies that address the studied parameters. PubMed search yielded 19 results, we quickly inspected the abstracts of these results to select those with most relevant data. Of 19 articles, 8 were chosen for review. Results: The prevalence of influenza vaccine ranged from 58% to 73%. Inadequate or lack of knowledge about the vaccine were common in over half of the elderly patients not receiving vaccine. The vast majority (>90%) of those received the vaccine did so after a clear recommendation by their physicians. Discussion: Inadequate knowledge and false beliefs about the influenza vaccines were the main cause of low vaccination rate among elderly. Physicians advice and health education were the most potent influencer on raising the prevalence of elderly immunization.