OBJECTIVES:

Barriers to adult immunisation persist as rates for Herpes Zoster (HZ) vaccine among eligible individuals in the UK have decreased. The aim was to identify factors associated with the uptake of HZ vaccination and to gauge their importance to vaccination uptake.

METHODS:

In this non-interventional multicentre, primary healthcare-based study, cases and controls were individuals who were the last cohort (79 years old) eligible for the HZ vaccination campaign in 2014-2015 to eradicate the risk of influencing future HZ vaccination decisions. Data were collected using an anonymised self-administered questionnaire completed by responders. The Health Belief Model (HBM) provided the theoretical framework for the development of the questionnaire, which included demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health status, knowledge, influences, experiences and attitudes to HZ and the HZ vaccination. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with participants’ decision to receive the HZ vaccine.

RESULTS:

Among the 2,530 eligible individuals contacted, 536 (21.2%) responded to the questionnaire. HZ vaccination uptake was 64.2%. Overall, 44% of variance in behaviour was accounted for by the model including all factors, 32% by the model using HBM constructs by scale, and only 14% was accounted for by demographics and socio-economics. Perceived barrier (OR=0.7, p-value=0.034), perceived control of disease (OR=0.7, p-value=0.004), and HZ history (OR=0.2, p-value<.0001) significantly decreased likelihood of vaccination.

CONCLUSIONS:

Longitudinally, HZ vaccination acceptability would be improved by efficient vaccination campaigns and communication interventions with in-depth understanding of psychosocial factors that drive or hinder vaccination.