Influenza Vaccination Low in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis

The following article is part of conference coverage from the 2018 American College of Rheumatology and Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACR/ARHP) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Rheumatology Advisor’s staff will be reporting breaking news associated with research conducted by leading experts in rheumatology. Check back for the latest news from ACR/ARHP 2018 .

CHICAGO — Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have a low influenza vaccination rate, despite the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for these patients to be vaccinated annually, according to data presented at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, held October 19- 24, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois.

Investigators in this retrospective chart review evaluated patients diagnosed with either RA or PsA for their lifetime influenza vaccination frequency and their past 2-year vaccination record.

Of the 1489 patients in the RA cohort, 54.9% were female, the average age was 62.5 years old, 61.3% had ever received the influenza vaccination, and 37.4% received the influenza vaccination the previous 2 years. Researchers analyzed the subset of patients who had ever received an influenza vaccination, and demonstrated that patients over the age of 65 were more likely to have received the vaccination in the past 2 years than those under the age of 65 (63.7% vs 51.7%, P =.0001).

Of the 526 patients in the PsA cohort, 50.6% were female, the average age was 55.7 years, 52.7% had ever received the influenza vaccination, and 28.9% received the influenza vaccination in the previous 2 years. Analysis of the subset of patients who had ever received an influenza vaccination demonstrated that patients over the age of 65 were much more likely to have received the vaccination in the past 2 years than those under the age of 65 (38.7% vs 4.02%, P =.0001).

The researchers concluded that patients with RA or PsA have significantly low influenza vaccination rates with “less than half of them receiving the influenza vaccine.”

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Reference

Coca A, Dolan J, Ritchlin CT. Rates of influenza vaccination in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Poster presented at: 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting; October 19-24, 2018; Chicago, IL. Abstract 231.

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