The Role of Risk Perception in Flu Vaccine Behavior among African-American and White Adults in the United States.
Seasonal flu vaccination rates are low for U.S. adults, with significant disparities between African and white Americans. Risk perception is a significant predictor of vaccine behavior but the research on this construct has been flawed. This study addressed critical research questions to understand the differences between African and white Americans in the role of risk perception in flu vaccine behavior: (1) What is the dimensionality of risk perception and does it differ between the two races?  (2) Were risk perceptions of white and African-American populations different and how were sociodemographic characteristics related to risk for each group? (3) What is the relation between risk perception and flu vaccine behaviors for African Americans and whites? The sample, drawn from GfK's Knowledge Panel, consisted of 838 whites and 819 African Americans. The survey instrument was developed from qualitative research. Measures of risk perception included cognitive and emotional measures of disease risk and risk of side effects from the vaccine. The online survey was conducted in March 2015. Results showed the importance of risk perception in the vaccine decision-making process for both racial groups. As expected, those who got the vaccine reported higher disease risk than those who did not. Separate cognitive and emotional factors did not materialize in this study but strong evidence was found to support the importance of considering disease risk as well as risk of the vaccine. There were significant racial differences in the way risk perception predicted behavior.
Professor Emeritus, Center for Health Risk and Communication, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Vicki S
VS
Freimuth
Maryland Center for Health Equity, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Amelia
A
Jamison
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methods, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Gregory
G
Hancock
University Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Donald
D
Musa
Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Karen
K
Hilyard
Maryland Center for Health Equity, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.|Department of Family Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Sandra Crouse
SC
Quinn
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D044383:Black People; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012306:Risk; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044465:White People
D007252:Influenza Vaccines
African American; health disparities; risk perception; seasonal flu vaccination