• William D King, Steffie J Woolhandler, Arleen F Brown, Luohua Jiang, Kristine Kevorkian, David U Himmelstein, and David H Bor.
• CARE Center, Department of Infectious Disease, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. wking@mednet.ucla.edu
• J Gen Intern Med. 2006 Feb 1; 21 (2): 181184181-4.

ObjectiveTo determine influenza vaccination rates among U.S. health care workers (HCWs) by demographic and occupational categories.Design And ParticipantsWe analyzed data from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Weighted multivariable analyses were used to evaluate the association between HCW occupation and other variables potentially related to receipt of influenza vaccination. HCWs were categorized based on standard occupational classifications as health-diagnosing professions, health-assessing professions, health aides, health technicians; or health administrators.Main Independent VariablesDemographic characteristics and occupation category.Main Outcome VariablesReceipt of influenza vaccination within 12 months of survey.AnalysisDescriptive statistics and weighted multivariable logistic regression.ResultsThere were 1,651 HCWs in the final sample. The overall influenza vaccination rate for HCWs was 38%. After weighted multivariable analyses, HCWs who were under 50 (odds ratio [OR] 0.67%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50 to 0.89, compared with HCWs 50 to 64), black (OR 0.57 95% CI: 0.42, 0.78, compared with white HCWs), or were health aides (OR 0.73%, 95% CI: 0.51, 1.04, compared with health care administrators and administrative support staff) had lower odds of having been vaccinated against influenza.ConclusionsThe overall influenza vaccination rate among HCWs in the United States is low. Workers who are under 50, black, or health aides have the lowest rates of vaccinations. Interventions seeking to improve HCW vaccination rates may need to target these specific subgroups.

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