Docs advice key to flu jab in older adults

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Provider recommendations play an important role in pneumonia and influenza vaccination of older Americans, according to a survey of 4577 Medicare beneficiaries.

The survey also highlights the need to increase awareness of pneumonia vaccination and address concerns about influenza vaccination among different racial and ethnic groups.

Dr. Carla A. Winston and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta examined factors associated with vaccination in white, black, and Hispanic seniors in five U.S. communities. The effort was part of a 3-year CDC project designed to investigate immunization disparities and to boost pneumonia and influenza vaccination rates among older people.

Results of the initial survey place pneumococcal vaccination coverage at approximately 70 percent, 40 percent, and 53 percent for whites, blacks, and Hispanics, respectively, and influenza vaccination coverage at 76 percent, 51 percent, and 66 percent, respectively.

Having a doctor or other provider recommend the vaccines was a strong predictor of getting vaccinated. However, blacks and Hispanics were less likely than whites to report being advised to get the pneumonia vaccine; there was no difference in provider recommendation for the flu vaccine.

"The fact that fewer than 60 percent of Medicare beneficiaries recalled provider recommendation for either vaccine indicates room for improvement in disseminating vaccination recommendation messages," the authors note in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The survey also suggests that more blacks and Hispanics than whites believed that they had become ill from prior influenza vaccinations and this belief was associated with lower vaccination rates.

The CDC team notes that "evidence-based" approaches to make sure that vaccines are routinely offered to seniors, such as standing orders and patient/provider reminders, are central to increasing vaccination rates and reducing racial and ethnic disparities. Efforts to address concerns some people may have about the safety of influenza vaccination are also needed.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society February 2006.