A profile of inactive information seekers on influenza prevention: a survey of health care workers in Central Kentucky

OBJECTIVE: This study developed a profile of inactive information seekers by characterising how they are different from active seekers, identifying possible determinants of inactive seekers and understanding characteristics of frequently asked influenza-related questions.

METHODS: A survey and follow-up interviews were conducted between December 2010 and January 2011. A total of 307 health care workers in three hospitals in Central Kentucky (USA) are included.

RESULTS: Four study groups were formed based on their information-seeking and vaccination uptake status: (1) Inactive Seekers with Vaccination (N = 141); (2) Inactive Seekers without Vaccination (N = 49); (3) Active Seekers with Vaccination (N = 107); and (4) Active Seekers without Vaccination (N = 10). Inactive Seekers without Vaccination are found to be least responsive to health outcomes. Inactive Seeker groups do not prefer to use sources such as Internet or family/friends. In predicting inactive seekers, Information Needs and Knowledge Perception made significant contributions to prediction. The most frequently asked questions included information about survival duration of influenza virus (N = 25) followed by the incubation period for influenza (N = 24).

CONCLUSION: Profiling inactive seekers can serve as a way to better design customised influenza information sources and services for health care workers, thus giving hospitals through medical libraries additional tools to reduce the spread of influenza.