• Daniel J Parente, Megan J Murray, and Jennifer Woodward.
• Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. dparente@kumc.edu.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Jan 1; 37 (1): 23-31.

BackgroundAlthough social factors influence uptake of preventive services, the association between social needs and influenza vaccination has not been comprehensively evaluated for adults seeking primary care in the USA.ObjectiveTo determine the association between unmet social needs and influenza vaccination.DesignRetrospective, cross-sectional, multivariable logistic regression.ParticipantsPersons completing ambulatory visits in a primary care department at a midwestern, urban, multispecialty, academic medical center between July 2017 and July 2019 (N = 7955 individuals included).Main MeasuresCompletion of influenza vaccination in the 2018-2019 influenza season (primary outcome) or any year (secondary outcome) against 11 essential social needs (childcare, companionship, food security, health literacy, home safety, neighborhood safety, housing, health care provider costs, prescription costs, transportation, and utilities). Demographics, diabetic status, COPD, smoking status, office visit frequency, and hierarchical condition category risk scores were included as covariates.Key ResultsIndividuals with transportation vulnerability were less likely to be vaccinated against influenza (current-year aOR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.53-0.78, p < 0.001; any-year aOR 0.58, 95% CI: 0.47-0.71, p < 0.001). Poor health literacy promoted any-year, but not current-year, influenza vaccination (any-year aOR 1.30, 95% CI: 1.01-1.69, p = 0.043). Older age, female sex, diabetes, more comorbidities, and more frequent primary care visits were associated with greater influenza vaccination. Persons with Black or other/multiple race and current smokers were less frequently vaccinated.ConclusionsTransportation vulnerability, health literacy, smoking, age, sex, race, comorbidity, and office visit frequency are associated with influenza vaccination. Primary care-led interventions should consider these factors when designing outreach interventions.Trial RegistrationNot applicable.© 2021. Society of General Internal Medicine.

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