Vaccination Promotion Strategies in the Elderly: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Gerontology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Vaccines prevent millions of deaths annually, highlighting their public health importance.
• Preventing infectious diseases is crucial for healthy aging and quality of life.
• Increasing vaccination coverage in the elderly is a key public health priority.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the most effective strategies for increasing vaccination coverage in older adults.
• To systematically review and meta-analyze interventions aimed at improving elderly vaccination rates.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies indexed in PubMed and Scopus.
• Inclusion of studies on individuals aged 60 and older, focusing on any intervention to boost vaccination.
• Measurement of intervention effectiveness using the odds ratio (OR).

Main Results:

• Twenty studies were included: 17 on influenza vaccines and 3 on other vaccines.
• Educational strategies showed an odds ratio (OR) of 1.63 (95% CI: 1.22-2.19).
• Medical counseling (OR = 3.13) and writing strategies (OR = 1.14) were also analyzed, with limited data on free vaccination.

Conclusions:

• Educational strategies were found to be the most effective intervention for increasing elderly vaccination coverage.
• Free vaccination and advanced age may be significant factors influencing coverage rates.
• Further research is necessary due to the limited scope of existing studies in this field.