This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of influenza vaccination in elderly Brazilians with specific chronic diseases. The sample included individuals 60 years or older (n = 23,815) participating in the National Health Survey (PNS) in 2013. The study estimated the prevalence rates for influenza vaccination and the respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). The associations were verified with the chi-square test (Rao-Scott) with 5% significance. Prevalence of influenza vaccination in the elderly was 73.1% (95%CI: 72.0-74.1), and there was no significant difference in prevalence rates between men and women (p = 0.237). Statistically significant differences were observed in prevalence rates for elderly that reported arterial hypertension, 75% (p < 0.001), diabetes mellitus, 76.5% (p = 0.009), cardiac disease, 79.2% (p < 0.001), and lung disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 87% (p = 0.001). The results showed low prevalence of vaccination in elderly with some specific chronic diseases for whom there is formal recommendation to receive the vaccine, suggesting the need for a vaccination campaign to extrapolate the age cutoff (elderly) and better targeting to these specific subgroups.
Keywords:
Influenza Vaccines; Chronic Disease; Aged; Health Surveys
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