Understanding Gender and Age Differences in Adults Who Receive the Influenza Vaccine

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics about flu vaccine recipients, in order to have a more complete understanding of vaccination behavior. The design was descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective. This study used the Erickson, Tomlin, and Swain (1983) Modeling and Role-Modeling theory’s concept of modeling. According to the National Institutes of Health (2002), more women than men receive the influenza vaccine in the 50-64 year old age group. Currently, states are not required to track gender of influenza vaccine recipients, so there is no national, consistent way to determine the gender of influenza vaccine recipients. The research question was therefore, whether more men or women receive the vaccine, and whether there is any difference based on age. The setting was a health department in a mid-Michigan community, which administered the vaccine for the 2001 flu season. Consent sheets were handed out at the first influenza clinic for the season. The response rate was 55%. Random selection was then used to yield a sample size of 161. Results found that the majority of recipients (59%) were female. The ages of recipients ranged from seven to 91 years old. The mean age of all respondents was 64.8 years old (SD= 15.8). The results also found that there was a significant difference in gender of those over 50 years old. The chi square result was 5.65 (df= 1, p= 0.02). Recommendations for future research are to expand on the use of the modeling concept to better understand influenza vaccine recipient and non-recipient status. Other suggestions are to replicate and expand upon this study design by using a variety of influenza clinics, a variety of county health departments, and by using a larger sample size.