Abstract
BackgroundInfluenza vaccination among minoritized groups remains below federal benchmarks in the United States (US). We used data from the 2004–2016 California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS) to characterize influenza vaccination patterns among Arab Americans in California.MethodsInfluenza vaccination was self-reported by Arab American adults (N = 1163) and non-Hispanic Whites (NHW, N = 166,955). Differences in influenza vaccination prevalence and odds were compared using chi-squared tests and survey-weighted logistic regression, respectively.ResultsAcross all years, 30.3% of Arab Americans self-reported receiving an influenza vaccine (vs. 40.5% for NHW, p < 0.05). After sequential adjustment by sociodemographic, health behavior, and acculturation variables no differences in odds of self-reported influenza vaccination were observed between Arab Americans and NHW (odds ratio: 1.02, 95% confidence interval: 0.76–1.38). Male and unemployed Arab Americans had higher odds of reporting influenza vaccination than female and employed Arab Americans.ConclusionsFuture work should consider specific barriers to influenza vaccination in Arab American communities.
Highlights
Influenza is a contagious disease affecting millions of individuals in the United States (US) each year, resulting in illness, flu-related complications, and thousands of deaths [1, 2]
Sample description Our sample consisted of 1163 Arab Americans and 166,955 non-Hispanic whites (NHW)
Models In unadjusted models, Arab Americans had reduced odds of reporting an influenza vaccination compared to NHW (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.83) (Table 2)
Summary
Influenza is a contagious disease affecting millions of individuals in the United States (US) each year, resulting in illness, flu-related complications, and thousands of deaths [1, 2]. Influenza vaccination remains well below federally established benchmarks each year in minoritized populations, preventing optimal coverage [3]. African-American/Black, Hispanic, and Asian minorities have been found to receive disproportionately fewer influenza vaccines [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Arab Americans, a historically understudied minoritized group of approximately 3.7 million individuals in the US, have been largely excluded from consideration in vaccination studies [11, 12]. Influenza vaccination among minoritized groups remains below federal benchmarks in the United States (US). We used data from the 2004–2016 California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS) to characterize influenza vaccination patterns among Arab Americans in California
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