Bursa Uludag University Faculty of medicine 6th grade students awareness and knowledge levels on adult immunnication and general approaches

Adult immunization rates have remained low compared to childhood immunization rates, which have to be followed-up since the early days when adult vaccination was recommended. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us once again in practice that vaccination of risky adult groups effectively reduces transmission and mortality. Considering that the physician factor is the most effective factor in convincing patients to vaccinate and reminding patients to vaccinate, it is clear that the knowledge, awareness and attitudes of interns, who will work in many departments in the future, about adult immunization are of great importance. Being aware of this importance, our study aimed to shed light on the knowledge, attitudes and awareness of Bursa Uludağ University interns about adult immunization. An online questionnaire was created with the aim of reaching all 372 6th grade medical students and the questionnaire was delivered to them via e-mail or social media. There are 4 sections in our survey. The first part is structured to question sociodemographic characteristics, the second and third parts to question the level of knowledge, and the fourth part to question awareness and attitude. In our study, a total of 206 students (55% of the population) responded to the online questionnaire, and all of them voluntarily agreed to participate in the study and completed the questionnaire.The most frequently referenced source for information on adult immunization was lecturer lectures with a rate of 84% (n=173), and the rate of students applying to the main scientific resources or guides was 24.8% (n=51) and 38.3% ( n=79) levels, respectively. 86.9% (n=179) of the students did not know that the shingles vaccine is a routinely recommended vaccine in the elderly. Although it was recommended to healthcare professionals, only 56% (n=112) of the students had the tetanus vaccine and 18.5% (n=37) had the flu vaccine after the age of 17. As a result, interns were very poorly aware of shingles vaccination. Students, as healthcare workers, did not have adequate immunization rates for tetanus and flu vaccination. The source that interns used most frequently to obtain information was a source that could be out of date, and the rate of use of current sources remained low. First of all, the lack of basic information should be eliminated with the trainings, and the use of current resources should be emphasized in these trainings. Policies that draw attention to the vaccinations recommended for healthcare workers in the hospital should be adopted. It is clear that if the knowledge and attitude deficiencies of interns are corrected, the adult vaccination rates of both patients and healthcare professionals will increase substantially.