The Shot College Students Don’t Like: The Flu Vaccine: Will Information Persuade Students to Become Vaccinated?
The Shot College Students Don’t Like: The Flu Vaccine: Will Information Persuade Students to Become Vaccinated?
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Date
2018-05
Authors
Young, Abigail
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University Honors College, Middle Tennessee State University
Abstract
Every year, the United States experiences an epidemic of influenza. The flu
vaccine is an effective way to protect against the virus, and yet college students, who are
at an increased risk of getting the flu because of their environment, resist becoming
vaccinated. In recent years, an anti-vaccination movement has taken root due to several
misconceptions about vaccinations. The purpose of this research is to test whether or not
receiving the facts about influenza and the flu vaccine would persuade college students to
receive the flu vaccine. This research was performed through a questionnaire, which was
completed by 171 college students in a one-group stratified random sample. For the 121
(70.2%) participants who had not received the 2017-2018 flu vaccine prior to the survey,
it was found that education did have a statistically significant effect on increasing the
likelihood that they would receive next year’s vaccine. Further, this researcher found that
targeting flu vaccination campaign efforts at teenagers or parents with young children,
and teaching students about reliable information sources, could have a great effect on the
number of college students who are vaccinated.
Description
Keywords
influenza,
vaccination,
education,
college students,
flu,
vaccine