Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan;58(1):18-24.
doi: 10.1038/s41393-019-0333-x. Epub 2019 Aug 1.

Poor adherence to influenza vaccination guidelines in spinal cord injury: results from a community-based survey in Switzerland

Elias Ronca  1   2 , Melissa Miller  3   4   5 , Martin W G Brinkhof  3   4 ; SwiSCI Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Poor adherence to influenza vaccination guidelines in spinal cord injury: results from a community-based survey in Switzerland

Elias Ronca et al. Spinal Cord. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

Study design: Cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: To evaluate the annual influenza vaccination coverage rate (IVCR) among community-dwelling individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: SCI community in Switzerland.

Methods: Participants were responders to the influenza vaccination question (n = 492) in the 2012 community survey of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury (SwiSCI) cohort study. IVCR of SwiSCI participants were compared to the normative Swiss population, sampled in the Swiss Health Survey of 2012 using direct standardization, logistic regression standardization, and a genetic matching approach to control for differences in age, sex, and quarterly period of survey response.

Results: Individuals with SCI showed higher crude (26%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 22-30%) and age- and sex-standardized (24%, CI: 23-24%) IVCR than observed in the general population (15% CI, 14-15%). The adjustment for age and sex as well as quarterly period of survey response showed that the standardized IVCR of individuals with SCI (17%; CI: 12-23%) approached that of the general population. Low IVCR of about 10% were found among individuals with SCI younger than 45 years. IVCR were similar between men and women and between individuals with incomplete and complete paraplegia and tetraplegia.

Conclusion: The IVCR in individuals with chronic SCI was not higher than in the general population and much lower than guidelines recommend. The improvement of the IVCR is an important target of health policy in SCI in Switzerland as to reduce the evidenced excess burden in respiratory-disease related morbidity and mortality.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Frankel HL, Coll JR, Charlifue SW, Whiteneck GG, Gardner BP, Jamous MA, et al. Long-term survival in spinal cord injury: a 50 year investigation. Spinal Cord. 1998;36:266–74. - DOI
    1. Leite VF, Souza DR de, Imamura M, Battistella LR. Post-discharge mortality in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury in a Brazilian hospital: a retrospective cohort. Spinal Cord. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-018-0183-y . - DOI
    1. Chamberlain JD, Meier S, Mader L, von Groote PM, Brinkhof MWG. Mortality and longevity after a spinal cord injury: systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroepidemiology. 2015;44:182–98. - DOI
    1. DeVivo MJ, Black KJ, Stover SL. Causes of death during the first 12 years after spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1993;74:248–54. - PubMed
    1. Chamberlain JD, Buzzell A, Gmünder HP, Hug K, Jordan X, Moser A, et al. Comparison of all-cause and cause-specific mortality of persons with traumatic spinal cord injuries to the general Swiss population: results from a national cohort study. Neuroepidemiology. 2019;52:205–13. - DOI

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources