Psychosocial correlates of intention to receive seasonal influenza vaccination among African immigrants

Background: Seasonal influenza is one of the most frequent contagious diseases worldwide and it remains a public health challenge with important economic and social tolls. Seasonal Influenza vaccination is considered the most effective method for preventing influenza infection. To promote vaccination uptake, it is important to understand the motivational process that underlies vaccination behavior. This study assessed psychosocial determinants of seasonal influenza vaccination intention among a sample of African immigrants in United States.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were gathered from 224 African immigrants (mean age = 34.9 years) using a self- administered paper and pencil survey based on HBM constructs. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the distributions of background, psychosocial, and outcome variables among the study participants. Bivariate and binary logistic regression analyses were used to assess association between background factors, psychosocial constructs, and the outcome variable. Analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for windows version 22.

Results: The study results show that 39.3% of the study participants indicated intention to receive an influenza vaccination, 31.2% did not intend to be vaccinated while 29.5% were not sure if they intend to receive the influenza vaccination. Intention to receive the seasonal influenza vaccination was associated with previous vaccination behavior (OR=6.69, P< 0.0001), self-efficacy for influenza vaccination (OR=4.33, P=0.04) and low perceived barriers to influenza vaccination (OR=0.81, P=0.006).

Conclusion: The study findings suggest that self- efficacy and perceived barriers may influence vaccination uptake among African immigrants. Intervention efforts directed toward improving seasonal influenza vaccination rate in this study population should address attitudes toward influenza vaccination.