Association of culturally competent care with influenza vaccination coverage in the United States

Abstract

Background: Cultural minority groups in the United States have lower vaccination rates or worse influenza-related outcomes. Culturally competent care, which aims to engage the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of all patients, may address some of these disparities.

Objective: We investigate how self-reported measures of culturally competent care is associated with influenza vaccination rates in the United States.

Methods: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2017 was queried for respondents asked a set of questions which assessed respondents' access to culturally competent care in the past year. The outcome of interest was self-reported receipt of the annual influenza vaccine. Sample-weighted multivariable logistic regressions estimated the adjusted odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (95 %CI) of influenza vaccination with response to the cultural competency survey questions as the dependent variable of interest. Subsequent marginal modeling predicted the adjusted vaccination rates among cultural minorities (racial/ethnic minorities, LGBTQ + adults, foreign-born individuals, and non-English speakers) and respondents with high-risk comorbidities for worse influenza outcomes. Models were adjusted for other known determinants of vaccination coverage.

Results: 20,303 sample adults were included in the analyses. There were significantly higher odds of influenza vaccination among respondents who were "always" or "most of the time" treated with respect by their providers (aOR 1.53, 95 %CI [1.23-1.90], P < 0.001), given easy-to-understand information (aOR 1.37, 95 %CI [1.19-1.58], P < 0.001), asked about their opinions or beliefs about their care (aOR 1.29, 95 %CI [1.19-1.39], P < 0.001), and seen by providers who shared or understood their culture (aOR 1.15 95 %CI [1.01-1.30], P = 0.03), compared to their counterparts who responded with "some" or "none of the time" to the same survey questions. Higher adjusted influenza vaccination rates were seen among multiple racial/ethnic groups, LGBTQ + adults, foreign-born individuals, non-English speakers, and individuals with high-risk comorbidities who reported positive responses to the cultural competency survey questions.

Conclusions: We demonstrate a positive association between self-reported frequency of access to culturally competent care and receipt of the annual influenza vaccine. These findings support future efforts to evaluate vaccination outcomes among patients who receive components of culturally competent care, such as linguistically appropriate services, race-concordant healthcare workforce, and community engagement.