Disparities in influenza vaccination: Arab Americans in California.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Influenza vaccination among minoritized groups remains below federal benchmarks in the United States (US). We used data from the 2004-2016 California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS) to characterize influenza vaccination patterns among Arab Americans in California. METHODS: Influenza vaccination was self-reported by Arab American adults (N = 1163) and non-Hispanic Whites (NHW, N = 166,955). Differences in influenza vaccination prevalence and odds were compared using chi-squared tests and survey-weighted logistic regression, respectively. RESULTS: Across all years, 30.3% of Arab Americans self-reported receiving an influenza vaccine (vs. 40.5% for NHW, p < 0.05). After sequential adjustment by sociodemographic, health behavior, and acculturation variables no differences in odds of self-reported influenza vaccination were observed between Arab Americans and NHW (odds ratio 1.02, 95% confidence interval 0.76-1.38). Male and unemployed Arab Americans had higher odds of reporting influenza vaccination than female and employed Arab Americans. CONCLUSIONS: Future work should consider specific barriers to influenza vaccination in Arab American communities.