Influenza Vaccination and its Association with Clinic Use of Evidence-Based Practices and Individual Patient Characteristics, San Diego County, 2009

Context: In 2008, about 40% of the US population eligible forinfluenza vaccine was vaccinated, which was below HealthyPeople 2020 goals. Little emphasis has been put on late-seasonvaccination efforts by medical providers. Objective: Evaluate useof evidence-based practices (EBP) and their association withinfluenza vaccination for children younger than 5 years andadults aged 50 years and older. Design: Patient surveys andmedical clinic information were collected between January andApril 2009. Influenza coverage rates and logistic regressions areused to measure associations. Setting: Nineteen medical clinicsserving children, adults, or both in San Diego Countyparticipated. Participants: Parents of children aged 6 months to5 years and adults aged 50 years and over seen by a primarycare provider during January through March 2009. MainOutcome: Influence of clinic EBP use on child and adultinfluenza vaccination status. Measures: Patient-reportedinfluenza vaccination and clinic coverage rates and clinics’ useof EBP and patient demographic characteristics. Results:Coverage rates varied by clinic; 50% to 82% (children) and 48%to 85% (adults). Child clinics using the immunization registry, orthose that were private practices or medical groups and adultclinics that used influenza vaccination clinics, provider prompts,or electronic medical records had higher coverage. Surveys from831 children and 1038 adults documented influenza vaccinationrates of 64% and 63% respectively. Receiving a reminder orhaving two or more visits during influenza season was positivelyassociated with child and adult influenza vaccination. Child