Weiwei Chen1, Charles Stoecker2. 1. Department of Health Policy and Management, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33199, USA. Electronic address: wechen@fiu.edu. 2. Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 1900, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite the high risk and economic burden of influenza-related diseases, about one-third of adults aged 65 and older still forego annual influenza vaccination. Mass media, as a leading source of health information for the public, can influence and promote health behaviors, such as vaccination. However, empirical evidence on the effect of media coverage on influenza vaccination uptake remains limited. OBJECTIVE: We examine the impact of media coverage by month on influenza vaccination among the elderly. METHODS: This study exploits variation in the number of influenza-related news reports by month and across seasons and examines its impact on vaccine uptake in a linear probability model with state fixed effects and seasonable random effects. We combine individual-level influenza vaccination data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System(BRFSS), 2010-2017, and media coverage data from the NewsBank database along with several other data sources including weather data from the Global Historical Climatology Network and data on the influenza season from FluView from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: Our main results indicate every 100 additional media reports about influenza published in October were associated with an increase in the vaccination uptake rate among those aged 65+ of 0.3 percentage points. This association holds in January, but not in November or December. It was more pronounced in late-peak seasons and in seasons where the vaccine was highly effective. CONCLUSION: This study provides suggestive evidence that variation in the number of media reports is associated with variation in influenza vaccination uptake.
BACKGROUND: Despite the high risk and economic burden of influenza-related diseases, about one-third of adults aged 65 and older still forego annual influenza vaccination. Mass media, as a leading source of health information for the public, can influence and promote health behaviors, such as vaccination. However, empirical evidence on the effect of media coverage on influenza vaccination uptake remains limited. OBJECTIVE: We examine the impact of media coverage by month on influenza vaccination among the elderly. METHODS: This study exploits variation in the number of influenza-related news reports by month and across seasons and examines its impact on vaccine uptake in a linear probability model with state fixed effects and seasonable random effects. We combine individual-level influenza vaccination data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System(BRFSS), 2010-2017, and media coverage data from the NewsBank database along with several other data sources including weather data from the Global Historical Climatology Network and data on the influenza season from FluView from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: Our main results indicate every 100 additional media reports about influenza published in October were associated with an increase in the vaccination uptake rate among those aged 65+ of 0.3 percentage points. This association holds in January, but not in November or December. It was more pronounced in late-peak seasons and in seasons where the vaccine was highly effective. CONCLUSION: This study provides suggestive evidence that variation in the number of media reports is associated with variation in influenza vaccination uptake.
Authors: Ruoheng Liu; Yi-Hui Christine Huang; Jie Sun; Jennifer Lau; Qinxian Cai Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-03-20 Impact factor: 3.390