2009–2010 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among College Students From 8 Universities in North Carolina

Abstract

Objective: The authors sought to describe the 2009–2010 seasonal influenza vaccine coverage of college students. Participants: A total of 4,090 college students from 8 North Carolina universities participated in a confidential, Web-based survey in October–November 2009. Methods: Associations between self-reported 2009–2010 seasonal influenza vaccination and demographic characteristics, campus activities, parental education, and e-mail usage were assessed by bivariate analyses and by a mixed-effects model adjusting for clustering by university. Results: Overall, 20% of students (range 14%–30% by university) reported receiving 2009–2010 seasonal influenza vaccine. Being a freshman, attending a private university, having a college-educated parent, and participating in academic clubs/honor societies predicted receipt of influenza vaccine in the mixed-effects model. Conclusions: The self-reported 2009–2010 influenza vaccine coverage was one-quarter of the 2020 Healthy People goal (80%) for healthy persons 18 to 64 years of age. College campuses have the opportunity to enhance influenza vaccine coverage among its diverse student populations.

Keywords:

• immunization
• influenza vaccine
• primary prevention
• students
• universities

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This publication was made possible by the Wachovia Research Fund, by grant R01AA014007 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and by grant R01AI079226 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIAAA or NIAID.

The authors thank all the anonymous students who participated in this study. The authors also thank the editor and anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions led to significant improvements in the manuscript.