Abstract
Aim. Influenza continues to be a considerable health problem in Europe. Vaccination reduces morbidity and mortality in all age groups. Objective. To assess the level of influenza vaccination coverage in the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons in Spain and to understand the drivers and barriers to vaccination and to determine the potential coverage for the following season. Patients and method. Telephone-based household survey among a random representative sample of the population aged 15 to 75 years. The same questionnaire was used for the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 periods. Four target groups were determined for analysis: <I>a)</I> persons aged 65 years and above; <I>b)</I> people working in the medical field; <I>c)</I> persons suffering from a chronic illness, and <I>d)</I> An overall group including the 3 previously mentioned groups. Results. A total of 4,034 people were surveyed (2,034 and 2,000 in the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons, respectively). Vaccination coverage increased significantly (p = 0.001) from 19.3% in 2002-2003 to 22.7% in 2003-2004. The main reasons for vaccination were: <I>a)</I> family doctor or nurse advice (41.2%); <I>b)</I> to consider influenza as a serious illness which people do not want to contract (36.6%), and <I>c)</I> older age (26.6%). Reasons for not being vaccinated of people that had never been vaccinated were: <I>a)</I> very unlikely to catch influenza (69.9%); <I>b)</I> had never considered vaccination (29.6%), and <I>c)</I> never received a recommendation from the family doctor (21.4%). Recommendation of the family doctor or nurse (65.8%) and availability of information on vaccine efficacy and tolerance (20.7%) were the most influencing factors in the decision to be vaccinated. Conclusion. Vaccination coverage in the 2003-2004 season increased significantly in comparison with the 2002-2003 season. The family doctor is the most important factor in influencing people to get vaccinated against influenza. More information on the efficacy and tolerance of the vaccine will help to increase the vaccination coverage in the target
Müller, D