[Pneumococcal vaccination rate in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients aged 40 years or older in China,...

Objective: To understand the pneumococcal vaccination rate in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients aged 40 years or older in China and provide evidence for COPD control and prevention. Methods: COPD patients with post-bronchodilator FEV(1)/FVC<70% in COPD surveillance (2014-2015) of China were used as study subjects, in which 9 067 patients with definite pneumococcal vaccination status were included. The pneumococcal vaccination rate and its 95%CI in COPD patients were estimated using data adjusted by complicated sampling method. The factors in association with the vaccination rate were also identified. Results: The pneumococcal vaccination rate was 0.8% in the past five years in COPD patients aged 40 years or older in China (95%CI: 0.3%-1.4%). The vaccination rate was 0.3% in the patients aged 40 to 59 years (95%CI: 0.2%-0.5%) and 1.2% in the patients aged 60 years or older (95%CI: 0.3%-2.1%) (P<0.05). The rate was higher in the patients living in urban area (1.5%) than in those living in rural area (0.4%) (P<0.05). The vaccination rate increased with the severity of airflow limitation (P<0.05). The patients with comorbidities of other chronic lung diseases or diabetes had higher vaccination rate (1.7% and 2.1%) compared with those without comorbidities (P<0.05). The vaccination rate was 1.4% in former smokers and 0.6% in current smokers. The pneumococcal vaccination rate in COPD patients was associated with age, education level, occupation, the severity of airflow limitation and the history of influenza vaccination. Conclusions: The pneumococcal vaccination rate was extremely low in COPD patients aged 40 years or older in China. It is necessary to strengthen the health education and recommendation for pneumococcal vaccination in COPD patients through different measures.