Influenza Vaccination of Pregnant Women: Attitudes and Behaviors of Oregon Physician Prenatal Care Providers

Robert F. Arao, Kenneth D. Rosenberg, Shannon McWeeney, Katrina Hedberg

In spite of increased risk of influenza complications during pregnancy, only half of US pregnant women get influenza vaccination. We surveyed physician prenatal care providers in Oregon to assess their knowledge and behaviors regarding vaccination of pregnant women. From September through November 2011, a state-wide survey was mailed to a simple random sample (n = 1,114) of Oregon obstetricians and family physicians. The response rate was 44.5 %. Of 496 survey respondents, 187 (37.7 %) had provided prenatal care within the last 12 months. Of these, 88.5 % reported that they routinely recommended influenza vaccine to healthy pregnant patients. No significant differences in vaccine recommendation were found by specialty, practice location, number of providers in their practice, physician gender or years in practice. In multivariable regression analysis, routinely recommending influenza vaccine was significantly associated with younger physician age [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.01, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.29-3.13] and greater number of pregnant patients seen per week (AOR 1.95, 95 % CI 1.25-3.06). Among rural physicians, fewer obstetricians (90.3 %) than family physicians (98.5 %) had vaccine-appropriate storage units (p = 0.001). Most physician prenatal care providers understand the importance of influenza vaccination during pregnancy. To increase influenza vaccine coverage among pregnant women, it will be necessary to identify and address patient barriers to receiving influenza vaccination during pregnancy.