Study Outlines Barriers to and Facilitators of Flu Vaccine Decisions

According to the 2013 National Health Interview Survey, the most recent report used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 29.6 percent of adults ages 18 to 48 receive the flu vaccine, and that number increases to 46.5 percent for adults ages 50 to 64 and 67.9 percent for adults over 68. To understand why more individuals don’t get the annual influenza vaccine, researchers at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education analyzed 29 flu vaccine-related communication research reports sponsored by the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases between 2000 and 2013. From that, they identified seven reasons that led people to get the annual flu vaccine and six reasons they did not.

The reasons people did get the vaccine were because they believe they are susceptible to getting the flu; they believe the vaccine matters and works; they are older or have a chronic health condition; they have received a recommendation from a doctor; they have experienced a bad flu or flu-like illness; they have been on the receiving end of active vaccination promotion; and they have convenient and easy access to the flu vaccine. The reasons people didn’t get a flu shot were that they believe, often as a result of personal experience, that the flu is a “manageable illness”; they don’t believe the flu vaccine recommendation applies to them; they don’t believe flu vaccines are effective; they have a concern about getting the flu from the vaccine; they believe other measures are more effective; and they have a negative personal experience with the vaccine.

“One of the most important findings was that personal experiences mattered a lot, both for people who got an annual flu shot on a regular basis and for those who didn’t,” said Glen Nowak, director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “I think that is an important reminder that it is really hard to overcome personal experience with persuasive communications. A lot of time communicators think they can just educate someone or just persuade them to take action, but that isn’t always the case. It may take a better product or a new and different personal experience.”

The 29 studies included participants who were healthcare workers, parents and people with chronic illnesses. One of the biggest surprises involved the perceptions of healthcare workers and their view about the flu vaccine. “Some healthcare workers are aware they can contract the flu, but they didn’t acknowledge they can transmit the flu,” said Nowak. “They saw patients as the threat and not themselves, which created a barrier for them to get vaccinated.”

The study was published in the June 4 issue of Vaccine.