title: Acceptance and rejection of influenza vaccination by pregnant women in southern Iran: physicians' role and barriers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vaccination provides the most effective protection against maternal, fetal and neonatal complications of influenza infection. This study aimed to determine the uptake rate of influenza vaccination including 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza and seasonal influenza vaccination and the reasons for acceptance or rejection among pregnant women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age of the 416 pregnant women enrolled in this study was 27.06 ± 5.27 y. Only 25 (6%) of 397 women had history of vaccination. Of 383 (92.06%) pregnant women who had rejected vaccination, 116 (30.28%) declared that they lacked information about influenza vaccination and 44 (11.48%) felt that they did not need vaccination. Concerns about the safety of influenza vaccination were reported by only 2 women (0.52%). Of the 25 (6%) pregnant women who were vaccinated against influenza, 15 (60%) accepted because of advice they received from persons other than physicians, 5 (20%) believed that influenza vaccination is necessary for everyone, and 3 (12%) accepted because of a history of frequent influenza virus infections in previous years.
  
  
  METHODS
  This questionnaire based study was conducted at obstetrics and maternity hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Pregnant women were interviewed individually and privately. SPSS was used for data analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of the unvaccinated and vaccinated pregnant women lacked sufficient knowledge about influenza. Education of pregnant women about influenza vaccination and encouragement from physicians may have a remarkable effect on turning poor compliance into high flu vaccination uptake among pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Community and Preventive Medicine, Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. honarvarbh32@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Behnam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Honarvar
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Odoomi
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmoodi
authors.forename: Golnar Sami
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Kashkoli
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khavandegaran
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bagheri Lankarani
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moghadami
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007492:Iran; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010819:Physician's Role; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines