Sociodemographic, HIV-Related Characteristics, and Health Care Factors as Predictors of Self-Reported Vaccination Coverage in a Nationwide Sample of People Aging with HIV in Germany

Abstract

Preventing infectious diseases through vaccination becomes more significant among the growing population of people aging with HIV. Coverage rates for vaccinations and factors associated with vaccination utilization among this population in Germany are unknown. We assessed the coverage of eight recommended vaccinations in a certain time frame in our convenience sample of 903 people living with HIV aged 50 years and older. We analysed coverage rates and used bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses to identify factors associated with number of reported vaccinations. Coverage rates in our sample ranged between 51.0% for meningococcus disease and 84.6% for the triple vaccination against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. All rates were higher compared to the German general population. Seven factors were related to the number of vaccinations in multiple regression analysis: sexual orientation, education, relationship status, CD4 count, time since last visit to HIV specialist, type of HIV specialist, and distance to HIV specialist. Vaccination coverage among people aging with HIV in Germany is high, but not optimal. To improve vaccination uptake, strengthened efforts need to be focused on female and heterosexual male patients, socioeconomically disadvantaged patients, and patients with barriers to access regular HIV care.

Promoting HPV Vaccination in People with HIV: Factors to Consider

“…For the behavioral skill construct, lack of self-confidence and/or skills to talk about HPV vaccination with sexual partners, relationships with sexual partners, and partners’ vaccine hesitancy were key factors. In addition, issues related to procurement of the vaccine, including perceived unavailability or inaccessibility, were barriers to vaccine uptake; barriers specifically related to transportation and cost were also identified, consistent with prior studies, particularly among individuals of low socioeconomic status [ 35 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Cost was specifically identified in this study as an especially detrimental barrier for high-risk populations.…”

Hepatitis B vaccination status and associated factors among people living with HIV in Gulu, Uganda: A cross-sectional study

“…Similarly a study conducted in Uganda among university students reported high cost of the vaccine as the main reason (63%) for incomplete vaccination (23). Tsachouridou et al (19) and Jochen et al (30) reported free hepatitis B vaccination in Greece and German respectively which could explain a higher uptake compared to our study. Another possible explanation for the variation in vaccination rates is how differently vaccination status was determined.…”

“…Despite the Uganda MoH recommendation of HBV vaccination for all PWH (28), only 30.9% were fully vaccinated at Gulu Hospital. Moreover, this proportion was lower than that reported among PWH in Northern Greece (73.6%) (24) South Korea (75%) (29) and German (75.3%) (30). Possible explanation for the difference in vaccination is, a low-income country like Uganda might struggle to maintain a consistent supply of vaccines due to nancial constraints in purchase, transportation and administration of vaccines leading to a lower vaccine coverage.…”

Implementation of EACS vaccination recommendations among people living with HIV

“…A recent German study published in 2021 analyzed the rates among PLWH older than 50 years for certain vaccinations including Hepatitis A and B, Influenza, Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumonia, as well associated factors for vaccination [12]. The results obtained through this investigation showed similar results for vaccination coverage compared to our study population except for Neisseria meningitidis (51.0%), where utilization of vaccination was remarkably higher potentially as a result of a higher average duration of HIV infection and a higher proportion of men who have sex with men in the sample size.…”