Swedish nursing and medical students’ high vaccination adherence during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic 2009: Insights for pandemic preparedness

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze Swedish health science student decision-making regarding vaccination against pandemic influenza during a national mass vaccination campaign. A questionnaire was distributed to 430 students during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009. The data from medical and nursing students were compared and a multiple logistic regression model was applied to identify items independently associated with the decision to be vaccinated. The overall survey response rate was 90%. More medical (93.2%) than nursing students (84.8%) reported that they had received the vaccine (p < 0.01). Only the perception that benefits can outweigh possible side effects was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with the decision to get vaccinated. We recommend that, during pandemics, health science universities focus vaccination information for students on objective risk communication. It should be taken into account that the pandemic information provided by authorities to the general public also affects health care students.

Keywords::

• Influenza vaccination
• pandemics
• nursing students
• medical students
• decision-making

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that they have no commercial or other association that might pose a conflict of interest (e.g., pharmaceutical stock ownership, consultancy, advisory board membership, relevant patents, or research funding). The authors declare no conflict of interest.