Attitudes of Internal Medicine Residents regarding Influenza Vaccination

Objective: To survey the attitudes of internal medicine residents regarding the influenza vaccine and their reasons for accepting or refusing the vaccine during a hospitalwide immunization campaign. Design and Participants: Internal medicine residents responded to a written survey. Setting: A university-owned, 891-bed, tertiary referral hospital and a 278-bed Veterans Administration hospital in Iowa. Results: Immediately following the immunization campaign, 51% of residents had received the vaccine. Of those residents who were not vaccinated, 42% never had time to go to the vaccine clinic, but only 8% worried about side effects of the vaccine. Residents whose clinics were staffed by infectious disease subspecialists were significantly more likely to be vaccinated (odds ratio = 2.55; $CI_{95}$ = 1.01 to 6.42) than residents working with general internists or other subspecialists. Conclusions: Knowledge, vaccine availability, and social pressure all increase the likelihood that residents will be vaccinated. Faculty, particularly those interested in infectious diseases, may influence residents to accept the vaccine.