Pneumococcal vaccination uptake among patients aged 65 years or over in Australian general practice

Abstract

In Australia, pneumococcal vaccine is provided free to all adults aged ≥65 years and Indigenous people aged 15–65 years, and is subsidized for non-Indigenous adults <65 years of age with risk factors. This study aimed to explore pneumococcal vaccination uptake in older patients attending 550 Australian general practices from 2010–2017 by patient sociodemographics, presence of comorbidities and practice characteristics. Study 1: a cross-sectional analysis of ‘active’ patients aged ≥65 years in each year was performed to calculate annual pneumococcal vaccination uptake. Study 2: a cohort of 58,589 ‘every year’ patients aged 60–65 years in 2010 was analyzed to identify the number of patients immunized during the study period. Logistic regression models assessed associations between vaccination, patient and practice characteristics. Annual pneumococcal vaccine uptake varied by patient’s age (65–74 or ≥75 years), presence of comorbidities and regularity of practice visits (range 36% to 76%), and it declined slowly from 2011–2016 amongst all groups. Cohort analyses showed that 69% of those aged 60–65 years in 2010 had a recorded pneumococcal vaccination by 2017 (peak age of vaccination = 66 years), and vaccination was more likely among those with comorbidities, ex-smokers and frequent attenders to practices. Findings demonstrate that the NPS MedicineInsight database provides estimates of vaccination uptake consistent with past surveys, reproducible every year and at low cost. It has the advantage of additional clinical information compared to the Australian Immunization Register. Whilst vaccination uptake was adequate among ‘every year’ patients, interventions are needed to improve pneumococcal vaccination for all older Australians.