Racial, sex disparity exist in influenza vaccination rates in IBD
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Influenza vaccination rates were lower among Black patients with inflammatory bowel disease vs. white patients with IBD, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week.
“Patients with IBD are recommended to follow a vaccine schedule, including influenza and the pneumococcal vaccines. Racial disparities do exist in access to IBD specialists, ED visit usage and biologic use,” Poonam Beniwal-Patel, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin, and colleagues wrote. “However, there is a paucity of studies looking at health disparities in vaccination rates in the IBD population.”
In a retrospective, case-control study, researchers analyzed electronic health records of 1,968 patients with IBD (average age 46.8; 53% women; 90.7% white) to assess the association between demographics and immunization rates. According to extracted data, Black patients with IBD had lower rates of influenza vaccination compared with white patients with IBD during the 2019 and 2020 flu season (54% vs. 73% and 57% vs. 69%, respectively). Researchers noted female sex correlated with a higher rate of influenza vaccination for both seasons (74% vs. 70% and 70% vs. 67%).
“This large study demonstrated that racial, ethnic and [sex] vaccination disparities do exist among patients with IBD. Exploring why disparities exist is crucial to improving vaccination rates amongst all IBD patients,” Beniwal-Patel concluded. “Addressing disparities in vaccination rates require comprehensive healthcare-wide systemic changes. It is important to consider that vaccine coverage disparities will carry over to COVID-19 vaccine coverage.”
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Beniwal-Patel P, et al. Abstract 255. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; May 21-23, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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