Association between annual influenza vaccine acceptance and religious/spiritual beliefs

Background: Influenza causes 36,000 deaths and 226,000 hospitalizations annually in the U.S. and despite influenza vaccine being effective in reducing morbidity and mortality, vaccination rates in the U.S. have remained below national goals. One potential explanation is the effect of personal religious and/or spiritual beliefs on healthcare decisions. Previous research identified that religious attitudes of parents led to an increase in exemption requests from annual required immunizations for their school-aged children, yet no existing research has focused on the impact of religious and/or spiritual beliefs on personal vaccination decisions. Additionally, previous studies failed to properly define religiosity and spirituality and did not investigate the role of knowledge or other demographic characteristics on the decision to acquire the annual influenza vaccine. This study assessed if there is an association between annual influenza vaccination utilization and religiosity/spirituality. Methods: This IRB approved research utilized a convenience sampling of individuals 18 years and older. A survey instrument was designed assessing individual influenza vaccine utilization behavior, knowledge and religiosity as well as spirituality. Participants were recruited through the internet and completed the survey online. SAS was used for the descriptive and chi-square analysis. Results: Those who were identified as religious and spiritual were more likely to receive the influenza vaccine than those who were identified as not religious and spiritual. There were no identified statistically significant confounders in the relationship between influenza vaccine usage and religiosity/spirituality beliefs. Conclusions: This research established that religiosity combined with spirituality affect the likelihood of receiving the annual influenza vaccine.