The CDC recommends older adults and adults with certain chronic conditions get inoculated against influenza every year, but vaccine uptake is relatively low among racial and ethnic minorities that fall within these groups. The gap may have something to do with discrimination, according to new research published in June issue of Medical Care.
The authors of the research examined more than 8,000 responses to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Aligning Forces for Quality Consumer Survey, including data from white, black and Hispanic adults with chronic diseases.
All total, 7 percent of the respondents reported perceived discrimination. Of those individuals, only 32 percent received a flu vaccine. Of the individuals that did not report perceived discrimination, 60 percent received a flu vaccine.
Those findings alone might suggest an association, but the researchers also noted discrimination was not a factor in vaccine uptake rates when they adjusted their data for other determinants of health services.
Ultimately, the researchers identified a correlation, not a causation, that needs to be addressed because vaccination rates are still too low among minorities.
"The causes of persistent racial/ethnic disparities are complex and a single explanation is unlikely to be sufficient," the authors concluded. "We suggest reevaluation in a larger cohort as well as potential directions for future research."