Availability Of Pharmacist-Delivered Vaccination Influences Compliance.(Brief Article)

2001 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Convenience counts, and that goes for preventive medical care as well as all-night grocery stores.

People are more likely to get vaccinated against influenza if they can do it when they get a prescription filled, highlighting the importance of pharmacists administering vaccines, according to research published in Medical Care.

These findings are particularly true of people whose chronic conditions make them vulnerable to flu complications, said J.D. Grabenstein and colleagues in the United States.

They compared flu vaccine rates among adults getting prescriptions filled in rural Washington, where vaccination was available from pharmacists, with adult prescription fillers in urban Oregon, where pharmacist vaccination was not available. Data were obtained from 24 community pharmacies belonging to one pharmacy chain.

Responses to a mailed survey assessing vaccination status and choice of vaccine provider showed that among those 65 and older, the vaccination rate increased 4.7% more in Washington than in Oregon from 1997 to 1998. The difference was 10.6% among those younger than 65 who were getting prescriptions filled for chronic conditions for which influenza vaccination was recommended.

Among survey respondents who reported being unvaccinated in 1997, the 1998 rate of 34.7% in Washington compared favorably with 23.9% in Oregon ("Effect of vaccination ...