Reduced hospitalizations and death associated with influenza vaccination among patients with and without diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether the influenza vaccination of community-dwelling, diabetic, elderly individuals is associated with reduced rates of hospitalization and death.


METHODS
In this outcome-research study, we compared mortality and hospitalization rates of 15,556 patients aged >or=65 years followed using a diabetes registry in a large health maintenance organization to that of 69,097 members not suffering from chronic disease who were considered as a reference group. The study outcomes included all-cause death and hospitalization in internal medicine or geriatric wards for any reason over winter and summer (control) periods.


RESULTS
Vaccination rates were 48.8 and 42.0% among patients with diabetes and the reference population, respectively. Influenza vaccination was associated with a 12.3% reduction in hospitalization rates for patients with diabetes compared with 23.0% in the reference group (P = 0.08). The reduction in hospitalization rates was similar in both sexes among patients with diabetes. In addition, there was a significant reduction in mortality for the vaccinated group of patients with diabetes when compared with the nonvaccinated group except for female patients aged >or=85 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The study results support the use of influenza vaccine among an elderly population. However, there does not appear to be an additional benefit for patients with diabetes.
Heymann
Anthony D
AD
Maccabi Healthcare Services, 27 HaMered St., Tel Aviv, Israel. heymann_t@mac.org.il
Shapiro
Yonaton
Y
Chodick
Gabriel
G
Shalev
Varda
V
Kokia
Ehud
E
Kramer
Eyal
E
Shemer
Joshua
J
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D007252:Influenza Vaccines