Objectives: Influenza vaccination is important for healthcare workers in order to prevent both the illness itself and transmission to patients. Previous studies in Saudi Arabia have revealed low influenza vaccine coverage among healthcare workers due to misconceptions. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza vaccination among healthcare workers during 2021, addressing the current data gap. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 1273 healthcare workers from the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to participants via email. Results: Most participants had an appropriate extent of knowledge, with 37.1% having a high level and 26.6% having a moderate level. Positive attitudes toward the influenza vaccine were observed in 41.2% of participants, and 80.2% demonstrated good vaccine practices. However, the vaccine coverage was 50.8% in the past 12 months. Factors associated with vaccine uptake included previous vaccination, workplace availability, awareness of guidelines, engagement in training programs, type of workplace settings, and having positive attitudes toward the vaccine. The most common reason for not getting vaccinated was the perception of being at low risk, making vaccination unnecessary. Conclusions Participants exhibited positive knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza vaccination. However, the observed vaccine uptake rate fell below the recommended coverage rate, indicating the presence of a knowledge-behavior gap. Targeted interventions are recommended to improve vaccination uptake among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: Influenza vaccination is important for healthcare workers in order to prevent both the illness itself and transmission to patients. Previous studies in Saudi Arabia have revealed low influenza vaccine coverage among healthcare workers due to misconceptions. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza vaccination among healthcare workers during 2021, addressing the current data gap. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 1273 healthcare workers from the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to participants via email. Results: Most participants had an appropriate extent of knowledge, with 37.1% having a high level and 26.6% having a moderate level. Positive attitudes toward the influenza vaccine were observed in 41.2% of participants, and 80.2% demonstrated good vaccine practices. However, the vaccine coverage was 50.8% in the past 12 months. Factors associated with vaccine uptake included previous vaccination, workplace availability, awareness of guidelines, engagement in training programs, type of workplace settings, and having positive attitudes toward the vaccine. The most common reason for not getting vaccinated was the perception of being at low risk, making vaccination unnecessary. Conclusions Participants exhibited positive knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza vaccination. However, the observed vaccine uptake rate fell below the recommended coverage rate, indicating the presence of a knowledge-behavior gap. Targeted interventions are recommended to improve vaccination uptake among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: Influenza vaccination is important for healthcare workers in order to prevent both the illness itself and transmission to patients. Previous studies in Saudi Arabia have revealed low influenza vaccine coverage among healthcare workers due to misconceptions. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza vaccination among healthcare workers during 2021, addressing the current data gap. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 1273 healthcare workers from the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to participants via email. Results: Most participants had an appropriate extent of knowledge, with 37.1% having a high level and 26.6% having a moderate level. Positive attitudes toward the influenza vaccine were observed in 41.2% of participants, and 80.2% demonstrated good vaccine practices. However, the vaccine coverage was 50.8% in the past 12 months. Factors associated with vaccine uptake included previous vaccination, workplace availability, awareness of guidelines, engagement in training programs, type of workplace settings, and having positive attitudes toward the vaccine. The most common reason for not getting vaccinated was the perception of being at low risk, making vaccination unnecessary. Conclusions Participants exhibited positive knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding influenza vaccination. However, the observed vaccine uptake rate fell below the recommended coverage rate, indicating the presence of a knowledge-behavior gap. Targeted interventions are recommended to improve vaccination uptake among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia.

VALIDATION OF THE MALEVOLENT CREATIVITY BEHAVIOR SCALE IN THE ARAB CONTEXT USING CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS WITH A SAMPLE COMPRISING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA AND SUDAN This study aimed to verify Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale (MCBS) in the Arab context, using descriptive correlational design. The study sample, which was drawn from the population of university students in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the republic of Sudan, comprised 3,408 male and female undergraduate university students (n=1,789 Saudi; n=1,619 Sudanese). The MCBS scale comprises 13 items in three dimensions (i.e., hurting people, lying, and playing tricks), which fall under the general category of malevolent creativity. In this study, the sole alteration made was to translate the scale into Arabic. This research, which employed confirmatory factor analysis, confirmed the MCBS as a valid tool for measuring malevolent creativity in the Arab environment. While this supports the use of the scale with the population of university students in the two countries, there is a need to confirm our findings through application to additional and diverse populations in Sudan and Saudi Arabia as well as to populations in other Arab world countries. Findings restricted to the Sudanese sample of this study solely on the topic of gender and rates of malevolent creativity were previously presented. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 25 (8) September, 2024; 1-10.