Evolution of anti-influenza vaccination coverage in Spain from 1993 to 2001.

UNLABELLED: The objective of this study is to describe the evolution of anti-influenza vaccination coverage in Spain from 1993 to 2001. We analysed 55,040 questionnaires taken from the Spanish National Health Surveys from the years 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001. The reply to the question "Did you vaccinate yourself against influenza during the last campaign?" is the dependent variable. Independent variables were the year of the survey, age, sex and the coexistence of chronic conditions. After adjusting using logistic regression, we found a significant improvement during the study period among those subjects at risk of suffering complications from influenza (OR 1.21). Nevertheless, this increase was essentially at the cost of subjects aged 65 and over. Subjects with high-risk conditions under 65 did not undergo significant changes.

CONCLUSIONS: A significant but insufficient improvement has been achieved and this must lead us to consider the possible need to modify anti-influenza vaccination recommendations.