The Effects of Educating Family Physicians and Setting Targets for Vaccination on Pneumococcal Vaccination Coverage Rates
Introduction: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the cause of invasive pneumococcal diseases, and the elderly have the highest risk of death. However, pneumococcal vaccine coverage among high-risk adults has been much lower than the targets set by international authorities. The fi rst aim of this study was...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi
2015-03-01
|
| Series: | Flora Infeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Dergisi |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.floradergisi.org/getFileContent.aspx?op=REDPDF&file_name=2015-20-01-010-015.pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the cause of invasive pneumococcal diseases, and the elderly have the highest risk of death. However, pneumococcal vaccine coverage among high-risk adults has been much lower than the targets set by international authorities. The fi rst aim of this study was to fi nd out the pneumococcal vaccination coverage rate in the elderly population living in Denizli. The second aim was to evaluate vaccination coverage after a target was set to 60% to be attained in 6 months.
Materials and Methods: A single day scientifi c education program was done by Infectious Diseases specialists and Internists for Family Physicians in Denizli in March 2011, where the goal of “60% pneumococcal vaccination coverage in the population over 65 years of age” was announced. Thereafter, a cross-sectional study was done within one month to evaluate the present vaccination rates of the elderly population living in Denizli. Afterwards, a second cross-sectional study was carried out between within 6th month. Since the target could not be met within 6 months, the study was extended to 8 months.
Results: The vaccination data of 80.047 people among the 88.671 people living within Denizli was available. Pneumococcal vaccination coverage increased to 36.410 (45.5%) after the education program with 27.113 (33.9%) new vaccinations within the 6 months of the study. By the 8th month, vaccination coverage reached to 59.5% cumulatively with 47.9% of people vaccinated during the study period.
Conclusion: In conclusion, we demonstrated that setting a target with a one-day education program resulted in a 4-fold increase in
pneumococcal vaccination coverage in the elderly population. The education of family physicians in countries where there are strong
and country-wide family physician systems can lead to increases in adult vaccination rates. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1300-932X 1300-932X |