title: Who knew? Awareness of being recommended for influenza vaccination among U.S. adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Starting with the 2010-2011 influenza season, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends annual influenza vaccination to all people aged 6 months and older unless contraindicated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure perceived influenza vaccination recommendation status among US adults (n = 2122) and its association with socio-demographic characteristics and recommendation status during the 2009-2010 pandemic influenza season.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyze nationally representative data from longitudinal Internet surveys of U.S. adults conducted in November-December 2009 and September-October 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 2010-2011 vaccination season, 46.2 percent (95%--CI: 43.3-49.1%) of U.S. adults correctly reported to be covered by a government recommendation for influenza vaccination. Awareness of being covered by a government influenza vaccination recommendation was statistically significantly higher among non-working adults and adults who had been recommended for seasonal vaccination or both seasonal and H1N1 vaccination during the 2009-2010 pandemic influenza vaccination season.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results highlight that a majority of U.S. adults do not know that they are recommended for annual influenza vaccination by the government. The fraction of adults who are unaware of their recommendation status is especially large among newly recommended healthy young adults. The universal vaccination recommendations will only be successful if they reach both patients and physicians and lead to changing vaccination practices. The universal nature of the new recommendation simplifies vaccination-related outreach and compliance with government vaccination guidelines considerably, as it does not require any identification of specific recommendation groups based on complex personal or health risk factors.
authors: Institute of Health Economics and Management, University of Lausanne and RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA, USA. jurgen.maurer@unil.ch
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Maurer
authors: Katherine M
authors: KM
authors: Harris
authors: Andrew M
authors: AM
authors: Parker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines