[Influenza vaccination coverage in France in 2007-2008: contribution of vaccination refund data from the general health insurance scheme]

Abstract

Introduction: The French general health insurance scheme has implemented a national influenza vaccination program including full refund for those 65 years old or more and those under 65 years of age with a targeted chronic disease.

Objectives: Our aim was to evaluate vaccination coverage (VC) according to sex, age, targeted chronic disease and geographical regions.

Methods: Data on vaccination refund for patients covered by the general health insurance scheme (85% of French population) was collected from the refund information system for the 2007-2008 campaign.

Results: Among the 11,618,719 targeted individuals, the overall VC was 51.5% (9.6% for individuals <10 years of age, 15.0% between 10 and 19, 28.1% between 20 and 64, and 63.3% for 65 individuals years of age or more). For those under 20 years of age, VC rates were inferior to 35% for targeted groups except for cystic fibrosis (67%). Among individuals 65 years of age or more, VC was 63.3%. The VC was 74.1% for people 65 years old or more with at least five refunds 6-months before vaccination (80% of the group) and for the others it was under 30%. The frequency of refund, vaccination for the 2006/2007 campaign, and having an attending physician were associated with an increased VC.

Conclusion: Refund data is useful to determine and understand VC among target groups, to build specific strategies among those groups and to assess their impact. VC could be underestimated because some target individuals may be vaccinated through non-refundable procedures. Specific studies should improve the understanding of vaccination attitudes in targeted groups.