%0 Journal Article %A NIR, YAEL %A PAZ, ALONA %A SABO, EDMOND %A POTASMAN, ISRAEL %T FEAR OF INJECTIONS IN YOUNG ADULTS: PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATIONS %D 2003 %J The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, %V 68 %N 3 %P 341-344 %@ 0002-9637 %R https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2003.68.341 %I The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, %X Fear of injections may interfere with receipt of vaccines. The frequency, associations, and precipitators of fear-provoking factors of 400 travelers visiting a travel health clinic were evaluated. The median age of this group was 25, 7% were medical staff members, and 2.8% were regular injectors (insulin). Eighty-five (21.7%; 95% confidence interval, 17.3–25.6%) of the travelers indicated that they were afraid of injections, and in 8.2%, the fear was unreasonably intense. Multivariate analysis revealed that watching other people being vaccinated, fear of pain, needle size, and a history of fainting were highly and independently associated with injection phobia. The sensitivity, specificity, and discrimination accuracy of this model were 79.5%, 78.0%, and 78.3%, respectively. Injection phobia and a bad past vaccination experience were significantly associated with fainting. Perceived empathy, on the other hand, was a significant protective factor. Fear of injections was common in this cohort and was highly associated with past fainting after vaccination. %U http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.2003.68.341