• Lisa-Marie Weinmayr, Jost Steinhäuser, Svante Christoph Gehring, and Katja Goetz.
• Institute of Family Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Luebeck 23538, Germany.
• Patient Prefer Adher. 2019 Jan 1; 13: 1295-1302.

ObjectiveThe aims of the current analysis were to evaluate the vaccination status and attitudes towards vaccinations of elderly patients and to explore effects of a vaccination campaign.MethodsThe data were raised in primary care settings by a physicians network which collected data during routine care from 697 patients and by the analysis of health insurance claims data from the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Schleswig-Holstein (KVSH/Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany), regarding vaccinations in the participating practices before and after a vaccination campaign.ResultsVaccination documentation for tetanus (57.7%), diphtheria (55.7%) and influenza (55.8%) was available for slightly more than half of the study sample. A lower documentation rate was observed for pertussis (33.1%), pneumococcal vaccination (30.3%) and polio (26.3%). Practice assistants were more responsible for determining the vaccination status than physicians. The attitude regarding influenza and pneumococcal vaccine was positive in 72.9% and 56.9% of patients respectively. After the campaign, rates of influenza and pneumococcal vaccine utilization increased by 13.4% and 62.9%, respectively.ConclusionsAttitudes regarding vaccination were generally positive. Documentation was missing for almost half of the elderly population. The delegation of vaccine management to practice assistants could increase the immunization rate. Moreover, it can be assumed that a campaign might be helpful in increasing vaccination awareness and vaccine coverage.

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