Reasons given for not receiving an influenza vaccination, 2011-12 influenza season, United States.
Influenza vaccination coverage in the United States remains below national targets and racial/ethnic differences persist.



To gain insights into potential strategies for improving influenza vaccination by examining reasons given for not receiving an influenza vaccination during the 2011-12 influenza season.



Data from the National Flu Survey were analyzed for the 2011-12 influenza season. Tests of association between reasons for non-vaccination and demographic variables were conducted using Wald chi-square tests. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine variables independently associated with each reason for non-vaccination.



For adults and children, there were no racial/ethnic differences in the overall most frequent reason for non-vaccination: "unlikely to get very sick from the flu". Regarding adults, there were racial/ethnic differences in seven of the twelve reasons for non-vaccination in bivariate analyses, but only three remained significant in the multivariable models. Most notable of these was that blacks (40.9%) were more likely than Hispanics (27.0%), whites (25.2%), and adults of other/multiple races (21.2%) to report concerns about getting the flu from the vaccination and blacks (39.8%) were more likely than whites (28.4%) and adults of other/multiple races (29.3%) to report concerns about side effects from the vaccine. Regarding children, there were racial/ethnic differences for three of the reasons for non-vaccination, and these remained significant in the multivariable models. The most noteworthy of these was that more black (44.4%) than white (24.0%) and other/multiple race (19.0%) parents had concerns about their child getting the flu from the vaccination. Other demographic variables (age, gender income, MSA for adults and age and income for children) were also associated with reasons for non-vaccination based on the multivariable models.



There are racial/ethnic group differences in reasons for not receiving an influenza vaccination; recognition of these differences should guide the choice of interventions to increase vaccination rates.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States. Electronic address: afz5@cdc.gov.
Tammy A
TA
Santibanez
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Erin D
ED
Kennedy
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology*; D000072758:Vaccination Refusal / Q000523:psychology*; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
D007252:Influenza Vaccines
Adult; Child; Influenza, Human; United States; Vaccination