Assessing Disparities in Knowledge, Attitudes and Influenza Vaccination Status among Black and White Seniors

Objective: This study examined whether or not differences in knowledge and attitudes explained racial differences in influenza vaccination rates. Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with a random sample of 500 Black and 500 White adults age 65 and older who live in Cook County, IL. We used multiple logistic regression to adjust the likelihood of being vaccinated for race, age, sex, marital status, income, education, allergy to influenza vaccine, self-reported overall health, access to healthcare, and use of health care. In addition to knowledge items, we assessed fear of the vaccine, personal susceptibility, barriers/consequences of vaccination, and perceived vaccine efficacy. Results: Respondents mean age was 74.2 (sd = 6.6); 71.2% of the sample was female. Whites were significantly more likely to report having received an influenza vaccination since the previous September (61.6% vs. 45.7%, p<.001). In multiple logistic regression, only attitudes and older age were associated with the likelihood of having been vaccinated, race was no longer significant. Knowledge, sex, marital status, income, education, allergy to influenza vaccine, self-reported overall health, access to healthcare, and use of health care were not significantly associated. Conclusions: Racial disparities in influenza vaccination appear to be based on specific attitudes held regarding influenza and the influenza vaccination. Messages to promote influenza vaccination among seniors should focus on addressing these attitudes and dispelling common myths about vaccination.