Spatial distribution patterns of Healthcare Coverage, Pneumonia vaccinations and prevention of hospitalizations in the District of Columbia, 2005 - 2009

Learning Objectives:

- Understand the effect of socioeconomic conditions and healthcare coverage on pneumonia vaccinations.

- Identify areas of the District which contribute significantly to the burden of pneumonia.

- Understand the effect of vaccination coverage on the prevention of hospitalization.

Introduction:

It is estimated that more than 6000 deaths in the US that occur each year are due to pneumococcus infection. Yet, in 2007, only 55% of District residents, 65 years and older indicated they had a pneumonia vaccination in their lifetime.

Objective:

Evaluate the effect of socioeconomic conditions and influenza vaccine coverage in reducing hospitalizations.

Method: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data for year 2005-2009 and Hospital admissions for pneumonia were geocoded for this study using ArcGIS 9.3.

Results: Though preliminary results showed high pneumonia hospitalizations in areas with high vaccine coverage in some parts of the District, in other areas, hospitalizations for pneumonia appear to decrease with high vaccine coverage. In some parts of District wards, 7 and 8, pneumonia vaccination rates were 11.1-16.3 percent and pneumonia hospitalization rates were 3.1 - 4.2 percent, but in parts of wards 3 and 4, pneumonia vaccination rates were 7.1-10.5 percent and pneumonia hospitalization rates were 0.5-1.9 percent.

Conclusions: Though high vaccine coverage is associated with low hospitalizations in the District of Columbia, high vaccine coverage was associated with high hospitalizations in other areas. Therefore, targeted interventions should consider other socioeconomic factors that are intrinsic to those areas with the heaviest disease burden.