Increasing pneumococcal vaccination rates among patients of a national health-care alliance - United States, 1993
Article Abstract:
A concerted public awareness campaign can increase rates of vaccination against Streptococcus pneumoniae in the elderly. This bacterium, often called pneumococcus, is responsible for many cases of bacterial pneumonia and kills approximately 40,000 people each year in the US. The 1993 National Health Interview Survey found that fewer than 30% of high-risk people had received the pneumococcal vaccine. A Texas health care alliance found it could substantially increase the number of elderly who were vaccinated by providing its member organizations with media kits and access to lists of member hospitals offering the vaccine. Barriers to vaccination include inadequate supplies of vaccine, missed opportunities to vaccinate during physician visits and substandard vaccine delivery systems in non-health care settings such as workplaces. One of the goals of Healthy People 2000 is to increase the percentage of vaccinated elderly to 60%.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1995
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Pneumococcal and influenza vaccination levels among adults aged 65 years or more - United States, 1995
Article Abstract:
The number of elderly Americans who are vaccinated against influenza and pneumococcal infections is the highest ever recorded. In 1995, a survey of 22,639 adults 65 years or older found that 36% had received the pneumococcal vaccine and 58% had received the influenza vaccine during the past 12 months. This represents a 7 percentage point increase in the use of both vaccines since a similar 1993 survey. In twenty-three states, influenza vaccination rates equalled 60% or more, up from 5 states in 1993. Non-Hispanic whites were more likely to be vaccinated than blacks or Hispanics.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1997
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Use of a Low-Literacy Patient Education Tool to Enhance Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Article Abstract:
An educational handout written at the fifth grade level or lower may be effective in encouraging elderly patients to get vaccinated against Streptococcus pneumoniae. The pneumococcal vaccine can protect against pneumonia caused by this bacterium. Researchers randomly gave 433 elderly poor patients an educational handout about pneumococcal vaccine or nutrition. Those who received the educational handout were four times more likely to discuss the vaccine with their doctor and five times more likely to receive it compared to those who received nutritional information.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1999
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