BACKGROUND: Standard influenza vaccines may be of limited benefit to patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). These patients may benefit from high-dose influenza vaccine, currently indicated for patients aged ≥65 years. Studies in other populations have demonstrated that high-dose vaccine elicits a stronger immunological response. We compared vaccine uptake in the United States and predictors of receipt for high-dose and standard influenza vaccines.
METHODS: Using data from the United States Renal Data System (2010-2013), we conducted a retrospective cohort study of 421,482 adult patients on hemodialysis. We examined temporal trends in uptake of high-dose or standard trivalent influenza vaccine each influenza season, and used multivariate logistic regression to assess the association between individual-level variables (e.g., demographics, comorbidities) and facility-level variables (e.g., facility size and type) with vaccine receipt.
RESULTS: The proportion of patients with ESRD who were vaccinated with any influenza vaccine increased from 68.3% in 2010 to 72.41% in 2013. High-dose vaccines were administered to 0.9% of patients during the study period, and 16.78% of high-dose vaccines were administered to patients <65 years of age. Among patients aged ≥65 years, older patients (>79 vs. 65-69 years: OR, 1.2930; 95% CI, 1.19-1.412) and patients at hospitalbased versus free-standing dialysis facilities (OR, 2.3127; 95% CI, 2.1309-2.456) were more likely to receive high-dose vaccine, while blacks (vs. whites [OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.61-0.71]) and patients with longer duration of ERSD (>9 vs. 0 years: OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.556-0.78) were less likely to receive the high-dose vaccine.
CONCLUSIONS: While the overall influenza vaccination rate has increased, use of high-dose vaccine among patients with ESRD wasis very low. Being an older patient, living in the Midwest, and receiving care at hospitalbased facilities were the strongest predictors of receiving high-dose vaccine.
