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Exploring racial influences on flu vaccine attitudes and behavior: Results of a national survey of White and African American adults.
Vaccine. 2017 02 22; 35(8):1167-1174.V

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Racial disparities in adult flu vaccination rates persist with African Americans falling below Whites in vaccine acceptance. Although the literature has examined traditional variables including barriers, access, attitudes, among others, there has been virtually no examination of the extent to which racial factors including racial consciousness, fairness, and discrimination may affect vaccine attitudes and behaviors.

METHODS

We contracted with GfK to conduct an online, nationally representative survey with 819 African American and 838 White respondents. Measures included risk perception, trust, vaccine attitudes, hesitancy and confidence, novel measures on racial factors, and vaccine behavior.

RESULTS

There were significant racial differences in vaccine attitudes, risk perception, trust, hesitancy and confidence. For both groups, racial fairness had stronger direct effects on the vaccine-related variables with more positive coefficients associated with more positive vaccine attitudes. Racial consciousness in a health care setting emerged as a more powerful influence on attitudes and beliefs, particularly for African Americans, with higher scores on racial consciousness associated with lower trust in the vaccine and the vaccine process, higher perceived vaccine risk, less knowledge of flu vaccine, greater vaccine hesitancy, and less confidence in the flu vaccine. The effect of racial fairness on vaccine behavior was mediated by trust in the flu vaccine for African Americans only (i.e., higher racial fairness increased trust in the vaccine process and thus the probability of getting a flu vaccine). The effect of racial consciousness and discrimination for African Americans on vaccine uptake was mediated by perceived vaccine risk and flu vaccine knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS

Racial factors can be a useful new tool for understanding and addressing attitudes toward the flu vaccine and actual vaccine behavior. These new concepts can facilitate more effective tailored and targeted vaccine communications.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Quinn SC
Department of Family Science, University of Maryland, 4200 Valley Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: scquinn@umd.edu.
Jamison A
Maryland Center for Health Equity, University of Maryland, 4200 Valley Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: ajam1@umd.edu.
Freimuth VS
Center for Health and Risk Communication, University of Georgia, 120 Hooper Street, Athens, GA 30602, USA. Electronic address: freimuth@uga.edu.
An J
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, 1230 Benjamin Building, 3942 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: jian12@umd.edu.
Hancock GR
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, 1230 Benjamin Building, 3942 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: ghancock@umd.edu.
Musa D
University Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, 3343 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. Electronic address: dmuc@pitt.edu.

MeSH

AdolescentAdultBlack or African AmericanAgedFemaleHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHealthcare DisparitiesHumansInfluenza VaccinesInfluenza, HumanMaleMiddle AgedPatient Acceptance of Health CareSurveys and QuestionnairesTrustUnited StatesVaccinationWhite People

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

28126202

Citation

Quinn, Sandra Crouse, et al. "Exploring Racial Influences On Flu Vaccine Attitudes and Behavior: Results of a National Survey of White and African American Adults." Vaccine, vol. 35, no. 8, 2017, pp. 1167-1174.
Quinn SC, Jamison A, Freimuth VS, et al. Exploring racial influences on flu vaccine attitudes and behavior: Results of a national survey of White and African American adults. Vaccine. 2017;35(8):1167-1174.
Quinn, S. C., Jamison, A., Freimuth, V. S., An, J., Hancock, G. R., & Musa, D. (2017). Exploring racial influences on flu vaccine attitudes and behavior: Results of a national survey of White and African American adults. Vaccine, 35(8), 1167-1174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.12.046
Quinn SC, et al. Exploring Racial Influences On Flu Vaccine Attitudes and Behavior: Results of a National Survey of White and African American Adults. Vaccine. 2017 02 22;35(8):1167-1174. PubMed PMID: 28126202.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Exploring racial influences on flu vaccine attitudes and behavior: Results of a national survey of White and African American adults. AU - Quinn,Sandra Crouse, AU - Jamison,Amelia, AU - Freimuth,Vicki S, AU - An,Ji, AU - Hancock,Gregory R, AU - Musa,Donald, Y1 - 2017/01/17/ PY - 2016/09/29/received PY - 2016/12/15/revised PY - 2016/12/16/accepted PY - 2017/1/28/pubmed PY - 2017/12/9/medline PY - 2017/1/28/entrez KW - Adult immunization KW - African Americans KW - Racial disparities KW - Seasonal influenza KW - USA SP - 1167 EP - 1174 JF - Vaccine JO - Vaccine VL - 35 IS - 8 N2 - INTRODUCTION: Racial disparities in adult flu vaccination rates persist with African Americans falling below Whites in vaccine acceptance. Although the literature has examined traditional variables including barriers, access, attitudes, among others, there has been virtually no examination of the extent to which racial factors including racial consciousness, fairness, and discrimination may affect vaccine attitudes and behaviors. METHODS: We contracted with GfK to conduct an online, nationally representative survey with 819 African American and 838 White respondents. Measures included risk perception, trust, vaccine attitudes, hesitancy and confidence, novel measures on racial factors, and vaccine behavior. RESULTS: There were significant racial differences in vaccine attitudes, risk perception, trust, hesitancy and confidence. For both groups, racial fairness had stronger direct effects on the vaccine-related variables with more positive coefficients associated with more positive vaccine attitudes. Racial consciousness in a health care setting emerged as a more powerful influence on attitudes and beliefs, particularly for African Americans, with higher scores on racial consciousness associated with lower trust in the vaccine and the vaccine process, higher perceived vaccine risk, less knowledge of flu vaccine, greater vaccine hesitancy, and less confidence in the flu vaccine. The effect of racial fairness on vaccine behavior was mediated by trust in the flu vaccine for African Americans only (i.e., higher racial fairness increased trust in the vaccine process and thus the probability of getting a flu vaccine). The effect of racial consciousness and discrimination for African Americans on vaccine uptake was mediated by perceived vaccine risk and flu vaccine knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Racial factors can be a useful new tool for understanding and addressing attitudes toward the flu vaccine and actual vaccine behavior. These new concepts can facilitate more effective tailored and targeted vaccine communications. SN - 1873-2518 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/28126202/Exploring_racial_influences_on_flu_vaccine_attitudes_and_behavior:_Results_of_a_national_survey_of_White_and_African_American_adults_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -