Background and objective:
Influenza is a highly contagious infection that it is estimated to kill 290.000 to 650.000 people each year. Elderly and the immunocompromised are particularly exposed to risk of severe complications. Although immunization is strongly recommended as effective in reducing the burden of the disease, vaccination coverage for influenza is still far from the desirable target. There are few studies in the literature that promote vaccination interventions for the high-risk population. This study has the aim to evaluate the impact of an innovative vaccine offer strategy and to analyze the factors associated with influenza vaccination uptake among frail people.

Methods:
The vaccination intervention began at the Policlinic Hospital in Palermo at November 2022. Hospitalized patients, over 60 years old or with chronic diseases, were offered vaccination against influenza upon discharge and a questionnaire was administered. The “Health Action Process Approach” model has been used to investigate the propensity to adopt the health behavior of vaccination. The project will continue throughout the flu season, until the end of February.

Results:
After one month of activity, 149 patients with a median age of 67 (IQR:58-75) years have been recruited. Frail patients who accepted to be vaccinated against influenza were 60% (n=85). Multivariate logistic regression showed the factors significantly associated with vaccination acceptance were: having received influenza vaccine advice from specialist physicians (OR:3.7,p=0.010), a low level of education (OR:14.4,p=0.004) and a high degree of expectation of a successful vaccination outcome (OR:3.1,p=0.035).

Conclusions:
Data collected show that vaccination in the ward could be an effective strategy to vaccinate precisely the most susceptible population. Furthermore, counsel by medical personnel and the correct perception of the benefits of vaccination play an important role in the influenza vaccine acceptance process. Therefore, the results obtained could be useful for planning and improving future influenza vaccination campaigns.