Older Adults and Vaccination Status: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the "ECORSINOS" Study

Vaccination is a public health strategy for reducing vaccine-preventable diseases and promoting healthy aging. For over 50 years, the Brazilian National Immunization Program has been developing routine vaccination methods, with specific schedules for each population. To describe the vaccination status of participants in the ECORSINOS study (HIV/AIDS: a Cohort Study of Older Adults from the Vale do Rio dos Sinos). This is a cross-sectional study of the first wave of ECORSINOS data collection, which occurred between November 2022 and February 2023 in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The study included HIV-positive and -negative older adults, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews applied by trained interviewers at the patient's home or health unit. A total of 110 adults aged between 60 and 82 years (mean 66 [SD, 5.13] years) were included, 49.1% of whom were HIV-positive. The most frequent vaccinations in the exposed group were influenza (96%), hepatitis B (94%), and pneumococcus (92%), while diphtheria-tetanus (75%), influenza (69%), and hepatitis B (66%) were the most frequent in the control group. This is the first study to assess the vaccination status of HIV-positive and -negative older adults in Brazil. HIV-positive older adults receive more vaccinations and booster doses than their uninfected peers. The highest vaccination coverage rates were for influenza and diphtheria-tetanus. In general, those with higher vaccination coverage were ≥ 70 years of age, were women, had a lower education level, and were single.