Participation of senior citizens in the swine flu inoculation program: an analysis of Health Belief Model variables in preventive health behavior.

Evidence is presented of statistically significant and strong relationships between Swine Flu Inoculation status and nine variables in the reformulated Health Belief Model with 122 randomly selected subjects, primarily Black and Portuguese-American, who are active members of two Providence, Rhode Island senior centers. No statistically significant relationship was discovered between inoculation status and previously having had the flu. The variables which were found related are: Efficacy, Safety, Knowledge of Side Effects, Prior Flu Shot Status, Proportion of Friends and Relatives Who Got the Shot, Sex, Race, Future Plans for Flu Shots, and Future Plans for Other Inoculations. The data were obtained through personal interviews in the Spring of 1977. It is suggested that the results provide some basis for optimism for successful intervention designed to change the future preventive health behaviors of nonparticipants in the Swine Flu Inoculation Program. Many nonparticipants had fears and doubts about the effectiveness and safety of the shot and are amendable to suggestions from physicians about future inoculation participation. Full information should be provided to high-risk groups such as senior citizens about the relative risks of suffering serious side effects, the effectiveness and safety of the procedure for persons their age with the typical health problems of senior citizens, and the relative risks and dangers to them of contracting the illness against which the shot is designed to protect them.