Predictors of influenza vaccine acceptance among healthy adults.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies investigating predictors of influenza vaccine acceptance have focused on high-risk patients or health care workers. Few studies have examined flu shot acceptance among healthy adults in workplace settings, even though influenza vaccine is recommended for this group as well. METHODS: Two studies investigated predictors of flu vaccine acceptance in workplace samples of healthy adults. In the first study, 79 university employees were interviewed, while in the second, 435 corporate employees completed a questionnaire. RESULTS: In the first study, flu shot acceptance was predicted by perceived effectiveness of the vaccine (r = 0.36), perceived likelihood of vaccine side effects (r = -0.32), and having received the shot in the previous year (r = 0.25). In the second study, flu shot acceptance was again predicted by perceived effectiveness (r = 0.49), likelihood of side effects (r = -0.31), and previous flu shot (r = 0.66) and was also related to older age (r = 0.10) and to predicted percentage of co-workers who also received the shot (r = 0.24). CONCLUSIONS: The current studies indicate that predictors of vaccine acceptance among healthy adults are similar to those identified in studies of high-risk patient populations and health care workers.