Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Medical Faculty employees' adult vaccination status and knowledge levels

Immunization of people through vaccination is the most effective public health strategy in the fight against infections. Since immunization with vaccines is a life-long process, it is important to maintain immunity in adulthood. Today, the importance of adult immunization is increasing due to the increase in international travel, the increase in the number of immunocompromised patients, the need for immunization of health workers at risk, and the increase in the elderly population. Vaccination of healthcare workers ensures that both themselves and the people they serve are protected from infectious diseases. Our study was carried out in order to determine the knowledge level of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Medical Faculty Hospital employees about adult vaccinations and their status of having adult vaccinations, to raise awareness of employees about adult immunization and to contribute to the literature on this subject. Our study is a cross-sectional, analytical and descriptive study. The questionnaire forms, which were prepared by scanning the relevant literature, were filled by people aged between 18-65 who were actively working at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine between July 2021 and August 2021 and agreed to participate in the research. Our questionnaire consists of 11 questions including sociodemographic information with 14 questions about adult vaccination status and affecting factors. Of the 150 people who participated in our study, 45.30% (n:68 people) were men and 54.70% (n:82 people) were women. The mean age of the people participating in our study was 31.75±6.88, min-max: 22.0-51.0. 96.70% (n:145) of the participants stated that it is necessary to be vaccinated in adulthood. Among the adult vaccines, the most recommended vaccine is the influenza vaccine with a rate of 85.51% (n:124 individuals). The least recommended adult vaccine was the chickenpox vaccine with a rate of 13.79% (n:20 individuals). While the rates of recommending pneumococcal, HPV, rabies and MMR vaccines in healthcare workers were statistically significant(p<0.05), there was no statistically significant difference in the rates of recommending other vaccines. 86.70% of the participants (n: 130 people) had at least one adult vaccine, and the most frequently administered vaccine was hepatitis B with a rate of 63.80% (n: 83 people). None of the participants had the herpes zoster vaccine. 87.69% (n:114 people) of those who had vaccinated stated that they had been vaccinated because they were healthcare workers. The most common reason for not getting vaccinated by the participants was determined as not considering it necessary with a rate of 35,0% (n:7 individuals). In the study, it is seen that there is a statistically significant difference between smoking and getting adult vaccinations (p<0.001) A statistically significant relationship was found when the adult vaccination status of the research group was compared with the status of having vaccinations required (p<0.001). Of the 84 women who participated in the study, 68 (80.95%) and 49 (19.05%) of 66 men stated that vaccination should be done during pregnancy In our study, the adult vaccination rate was found to be higher than similar studies in Turkey. It makes us think that it is important to increase the knowledge and awareness of healthcare professionals about adult vaccines and to train them on this subject. Survey data İ.B.M. SPSS 22 (Statistical Package for social sciences version 22.0) was transferred to the statistical program and these data were evaluated as numbers, averages and percentages. Statistical significance was analyzed with Chi-square and Chi-Square Fisher tests. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05. Key words: Vaccine, immünization, health, questionaire form, education