[Attitudes toward influenza vaccination in an urban population older than 60 years]

To determine the reasons for undergoing or rejecting influenza vaccination among people older than 60 years.

A cross-sectional descriptive study through telephone survey among patients over 60 years old living in a health district of Barcelona (Dreta de l'Eixample) was performed. A total of 1,700 medical records of patients aged more than 60 years old were randomly chosen and 291 surveys were conducted.

Among the patients who received influenza vaccination, the main source of information about the vaccine was the family physician in 63.63% (119; 95% confidence interval (CI), 57.1-70.1), followed by the primary care nurse in 27.80% (52; 95% CI, 21.8-33.8) and the media in 21.92% (41; 95% CI, 16.9-26.9). The main reasons for receiving the vaccine in 2005 were health protection (148; 79.14%; 95% CI, 73.64-84.64) and physician request (49; 26.20%; 95% CI, 20.25-32.15). Non-vaccinated individuals argued that the vaccine was unnecessary since "they never get a cold" (44; 42.30%; 95% CI, 33.97-52.43) or "never get the flu" (23; 22.15%; 95% CI, 14.41-29.89).

The main reason for receiving the influenza vaccine was to protect health. Concept mistakes were detected among patients who did not receive the vaccine. This finding highlights the need to develop new strategies to increase vaccination rates. Physicians remain the main source of information about influenza vaccination, suggesting that nurses should increase their efforts in spreading their functions.