title: New opportunity for vaccinating older people: well-child clinic visits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Streptococcus pneumoniae causes considerable morbidity and mortality in the elderly. As aging of the population is making the health of the elderly a universal priority, preventive measures, such as vaccination, will become increasingly important.
  
  
  METHODS
  We designed a prospective interventional study to determine whether recommendations to vaccinate grandparents of children attending well-child clinics would increase the pneumococcal vaccination rate in the elderly. Children younger than 5 years of age, attending a university well-child clinic from 1 May to 31 September 2008 who had grandparents over 65 years of age were eligible. A survey including the questions about the demographic characteristics of children, their parents and grandparents over 65 was carried out by face-to-face interview with the parents. High-risk medical conditions and vaccination history of grandparents was also noted and the benefits and necessity of pneumococcal vaccination (23vPPV) for the elderly was emphasized. Four months later these families were contacted to determine whether this intervention had increased the pneumococcal vaccination rates of the elderly.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Information was obtained from 938 grandparents of 545 children. Before the interview, among all grandparents, only 0.9% were vaccinated with 23vPPV. Four months after this intervention, immunization coverage increased to 19.1%. The sex of the grandchild (OR: 1.99) and previous hepatitis B or influenza immunization of the grandparents (OR: 2.73) were the significant parameters accounting for higher immunization rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reminding elderly grandparents about vaccines in well-child clinics could be an opportunity in this field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit Research and Education Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Ufuk
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Beyazova
authors.forename: Nur
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aksakal
authors.forename: Selda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.forename: Aysu Duyan
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Camurdan
authors.forename: Figen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sahin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines