Consultation with health care professionals and influenza immunization among women in contact with young children.
OBJECTIVE
Primary health providers serve an important role in providing and promoting annual influenza immunization to high-risk groups and their close contacts. The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether consultation with a medical professional increases the likelihood of receiving a flu shot among women who have given birth in the past five years and to determine whether this association differs by type of medical professional.


METHODS
Data were obtained from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2005), Cycle 3.1. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between receiving a flu shot in the past 12 months and consulting with family doctors, specialists, nurses, chiropractors, or homeopaths/naturopaths.


RESULTS
Among the 6,925 women included in our sample, 1,847 (28.4%) reported receiving a flu shot in the past 12 months. After adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics and province of residence, women who received flu shots in the past 12 months were significantly more likely to consult with a family doctor (AOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.34-1.83) and significantly less likely to consult with a chiropractor (AOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64-0.90) or a homeopath/naturopath (AOR 0.72, 95% CI 0.54-0.97) over the same time period.


CONCLUSIONS
Consultation with family doctors was found to have the strongest association with annual flu shots among women in contact with young children, whereas consultation with alternative care providers was found to have an independent inverse association. Given the influenza-associated health risks for young children, medical professionals should promote immunization at the time of consultation for household contacts of young children, including pregnant women.
Chambers
Catharine T
CT
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
Buxton
Jane A
JA
Koehoorn
Mieke
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016015:Logistic Models; D032541:Mass Vaccination; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
D007252:Influenza Vaccines