Pneumococcal vaccination practices among private physicians.

It is estimated that less than 10 percent of patients thought to be at high risk of invasive pneumococcal diseases have received 14-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. To determine if any of these groups are more likely to be vaccinated than others, 893 private, primary-care physicians were surveyed nationwide. Although there was general agreement that the vaccine is indicated for the high-risk groups, patients with cardiorespiratory diseases were the only ones usually immunized by more than half of the survey respondents. The discrepancy between attitudes and practices could not be attributed to any specific factor.