A comparison of student and faculty/staff decisions to receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine during a campus-wide vaccination effort

College students were at high risk for contracting the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza due to age and living conditions. Colleges and universities were sites of significant outbreaks and experienced surges effecting on-campus health care capacities. Many colleges and universities responded by developing and implementing pandemic action plans, including holding campus-wide vaccination clinics as a method of primary prevention. In many cases, these clinics were open to students, faculty and staff. The purpose of the study is to compare student and faculty/staff factors associated with participation in an on-campus H1N1 vaccination clinic. The Health Belief Model is used to guide the analysis. A self-administered survey was conducted during a university health center H1N1 vaccination clinic January/February 2010. A total of 357 students, faculty, and staff participated in the study. Bivariate analyses were conducted. The results suggest that there was no difference between students and faculty/staff perceptions of the pandemic as a public health threat but students and faculty/staff statistically differed in perceptions of their susceptibility to infection, previous vaccination behaviors, and preexisting health conditions that increased risk of complications due to H1N1. Further, statistically significant differences were found in barriers to action but not benefits to action. The results indicate that factors related to student and faculty/staff participation in college campus-based mass vaccination clinics need to be considered to increase campus-wide participation in a future pandemic.