Compliance with vaccination against influenza among the elderly

Abstract

Protective vaccination against influenza is one of the most beneficial methods of preventing this viral disease. The use of vaccines brings not only the health benefits but also has positive implications related to diminishing the costs of treatment, prolonged hospitalization or postinfluenza complications. Promoting vaccinations against influenza among the elderly is especially important. The article concerns the perception of these vaccinations and evaluation of the general knowledge on influenza among listeners of a university of the third age in Warsaw, Poland. It aims also at assessing the potential to change opinions and decisions regarding vaccinations against influenza and widely understood influenza prevention among this target group. The research tool, apart from the scientific lecture-like presentation rich in examples, was a selfreported questionnaire designed by the authors specifically for this study purpose. This paper presents the results of survey conducted with the questionnaire completed by 29 persons over 60 years of age. We found that the recent vaccination rate against influenza was just was about 20 % in the studied sample of the elderly. The study demonstrates that educational training through a professional lecture presentation facilitates the promotion of health and vaccination coverage against influenza in the elderly.