TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers to influenza immunization in a low-income urban population
AU - Armstrong, Katrina
AU - Berlin, Michelle
AU - Schwartz, J. Sanford
AU - Propert, Kathleen
AU - Ubel, Peter A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation and the Matthew Slap Award from the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ubel is a Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar and the recipient of a career development award in health services research from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Background: Athough influenza immunization significantly reduces mortality from influenza, over one third of elderly Americans are not immunized each year. Low rates of immunization are particularly concerning among African-American low-income populations. Preliminary interviews suggested that fear of undisclosed ingredients in the influenza vaccine may impede vaccine acceptance in this vulnerable population. Objectives: To assess the role of concern about vaccine contents and other factors in the use of influenza immunization among a predominantly African-American low-income urban population. Methods: Cross-sectional, health-system-population-based, telephone survey of a random sample of West Philadelphia residents aged ≥65 years. Results: Of 659 eligible individuals, 486 (73.8%) were successfully interviewed. Concern about undisclosed shot contents was reported by 132 (20%) respondents and was inversely associated with vaccine receipt (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26-0.91). This association was similar among African Americans and Caucasians. In addition, receipt of influenza vaccine was inversely associated with belief that immunization is inconvenient (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.05-0.36), belief that immunization is painful (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.08-0.54), and history of previous side effects (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.18-0.60), and positively associated with physician recommendation (OR 3.22, 95% CI 1.76-5.93). Conclusions: In a low-income urban population, concern about undisclosed vaccine contents appears to impede acceptance of influenza immunization among both African Americans and Caucasians. Directly addressing this concern offers a new approach to increasing immunization in this vulnerable population.
AB - Background: Athough influenza immunization significantly reduces mortality from influenza, over one third of elderly Americans are not immunized each year. Low rates of immunization are particularly concerning among African-American low-income populations. Preliminary interviews suggested that fear of undisclosed ingredients in the influenza vaccine may impede vaccine acceptance in this vulnerable population. Objectives: To assess the role of concern about vaccine contents and other factors in the use of influenza immunization among a predominantly African-American low-income urban population. Methods: Cross-sectional, health-system-population-based, telephone survey of a random sample of West Philadelphia residents aged ≥65 years. Results: Of 659 eligible individuals, 486 (73.8%) were successfully interviewed. Concern about undisclosed shot contents was reported by 132 (20%) respondents and was inversely associated with vaccine receipt (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26-0.91). This association was similar among African Americans and Caucasians. In addition, receipt of influenza vaccine was inversely associated with belief that immunization is inconvenient (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.05-0.36), belief that immunization is painful (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.08-0.54), and history of previous side effects (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.18-0.60), and positively associated with physician recommendation (OR 3.22, 95% CI 1.76-5.93). Conclusions: In a low-income urban population, concern about undisclosed vaccine contents appears to impede acceptance of influenza immunization among both African Americans and Caucasians. Directly addressing this concern offers a new approach to increasing immunization in this vulnerable population.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00263-4
DO - 10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00263-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 11137770
AN - SCOPUS:0035183194
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 20
SP - 21
EP - 25
JO - American journal of preventive medicine
JF - American journal of preventive medicine
IS - 1
ER -