ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1603482

Knowledge, Attitudes, Barriers and Uptake Rate of Influenza Virus Vaccine Among Adults with Chronic Diseases in Jordan: A Multicentric Cross-Sectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Munir  Abu-HelalahMunir Abu-Helalah1,2*Tarek  GharibehTarek Gharibeh3Mohammad  Al-HanaktahMohammad Al-Hanaktah3Islam  KhatatbehIslam Khatatbeh4Fadi  BatarsehFadi Batarseh5Amro  AsfourAmro Asfour3Omar  OkkehOmar Okkeh6Abdallah  DalalAbdallah Dalal7Ahmad  AlhendiAhmad Alhendi8Huthifa  AbabnehHuthifa Ababneh9
  • 1Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Aljubeiha, Jordan
  • 2Public Health Institute, The University of Jordan., Amman, Amman, Jordan
  • 3School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Aljubeiha, Amman, Jordan
  • 4Jordanian Royal Medical Services, Amman, Amman, Jordan
  • 5Ministry of Health (Jordan), Amman, Amman, Jordan
  • 6Great Western Hospital, Swindon, United Kingdom
  • 7Klinikum Lüdenscheid, Lüdenscheid, Germany
  • 8Orthopedic department, Islamic Hospital, Amman, Jordan, Amman, Jordan
  • 9Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: Seasonal Influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite the wellestablished preventive role of the influenza vaccine particularly for patients at high risk, influenza vaccine uptake remains suboptimal. In Jordan, data on the influenza vaccine uptake among adults with chronic diseases at high risk of influenza complications is still lacking. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess influenza vaccine knowledge, attitudes, uptake, and barriers among adults with selected chronic disease in Jordan. Data was collected via a structured questionnaire based on the health belief model (HBM). The face-to-face interviews were conducted between February and June 2023 at multiple healthcare centers and hospitals are representative sites of Jordan. Results: A total of 786 participants completed the study questionnaire with a mean age of 50.04 ± 15.9 years. There was a low uptake rate of influenza vaccine (10.4%) during the 2022/2023 season, while around one third of participants (32.7%) reported history of been ever vaccinated against influenza. This study identified different predictors of influenza vaccine uptake such as advice from the healthcare professional, history of complications from influenza, availability of free influenza vaccine and awareness about the vaccine availability. Worry about the vaccine safety was one of the important detected barriers. Conclusions: Similar to the global trend, particularly in developing countries, the influenza vaccine uptake rate is low amongst adults with different high-risk illnesses in Jordan. Results of the study provided baseline data for future interventions to improve the uptake rates of influenza vaccines in Jordan.

Keywords: Influenza Vaccines, chronic diseases, uptake, barriers, attitudes, Jordan

Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Abu-Helalah, Gharibeh, Al-Hanaktah, Khatatbeh, Batarseh, Asfour, Okkeh, Dalal, Alhendi and Ababneh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Munir Abu-Helalah, Department of Family and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Aljubeiha, Jordan

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