Investigation of Pneumococcus, Influenza, Covid-19 Vaccination Rates and Affecting Factors in Patients Aged 65 and Over

Objective: This study was planned to determine the vaccination rates and related factors with Pneumococcal, Influenza and Covid-19 vaccines in adults aged 65 and over who applied to the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic. Methods: The sample of the descriptive study consisted of 200 volunteer adult patients aged 65 and over who applied to the Family Medicine outpatient clinic between May and October 2021. AThe data were collected by applying a face-to-face interview with descriptive features. Results: The mean age of the participants was 71.21 +/- 5.97 years. Influenza vaccination rate of all participants in the last 1 year was 24.50%, Pneumococcal vaccination rate in the last 5 years was 42%, and Covid-19 vaccination rate was 86%. In our study, having a chronic disease was the factor that increased the rate of influenza vaccination, it was determined that the factor determining the pneumococcal vaccination rate was affected by the habit of going to the family doctor regularly (p<0.05). Individuals who did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine stated that they did not have the vaccine because they were afraid of the side effects of the vaccine and did not find the vaccine safe. Conclusions: Our study revealed that adult vaccination rates are low and they do not have enough information about their vaccinations. Health professionals, especially family physicians, have important duties to determine the factors affecting the level of knowledge about immunization in adults, to increase awareness and to make preventive medicine reach more people.