Population characteristics associated with pharmacy-based influenza vaccination in United States survey data

To examine the population characteristics associated with the health behavior of receiving an influenza vaccine from a pharmacy-based setting.

Secondary analysis of data from states that participated in an optional influenza module in the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based observational survey of U.S. adults.

Analytic sample of 28,954 respondents from 8 states and Puerto Rico who reported receiving an influenza vaccination in the past year.

The main outcome was a self-reported categoric variable indicating the setting of the most recent seasonal influenza vaccination: doctor's office, pharmacy-based store, or other setting.

Multinomial logistic regression results showed that environmental, predisposing, enabling, and need factors in the Andersen model were salient features associated with odds of using pharmacy-based influenza vaccination settings instead of a doctor's office. Residents of states that allowed pharmacists as immunizers before 1999 reported greater use of pharmacy-based store settings (odds ratio [OR] 1.31). Compared with young adults, individuals 65 years of age and older were more likely to choose a pharmacy-based store than a doctor's office (OR 1.41) and less likely to use other community settings (OR 0.45). Compared with non-Hispanic whites, black respondents were less likely to use pharmacy-based store vaccination (OR 0.51), and multiracial and Hispanic respondents were more likely to use other settings (ORs 1.47 and 1.60, respectively). Enabling and need factors were also associated with setting.

Based on this dataset of selected states from 2014, almost one-fourth of U.S. adults who reported receiving an annual influenza vaccination did so from a pharmacy-based store; 35% reported using other community-based settings that may enlist pharmacists as immunizers. There were striking disparities in use of nontraditional vaccination settings by age and race or ethnicity. Pharmacists and pharmacies should address missed opportunities for vaccination by targeting outreach efforts based on environmental and predisposing characteristics.