Analysis of seasonal influenza vaccine uptake among children and adolescents with an intellectual disability Chia-Feng Yen a , Shang-Wei Hsu b , Ching-Hui Loh c,d , Wen-Hui Fang d , Chia-Ling Wu e , Cordia M. Chu f , Jin-Ding Lin e,f,g, * a Department of Public Health, Tzu-Chi University, Hualien City, Taiwan b Graduate Institute of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan c Song Shan Armed Forces Military General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan d Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan e Chung-Hua Foundation for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, New Taipei City, Taiwan f Center for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia g School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan 1. Introduction Many previous studies have clearly found that people with ID were more likely to have general health problems (Lin et al., 2010; Lin, Lin, Hsieh, & Lin, 2010; Lin, J.D., et al., 2010; Lin, P.Y., et al., 2010; Lin, Lin, Lin, Hsu, et al., 2010; Lin, Lin, Lin, Lai, et al., 2010; Lai et al., 2011), experience many healthcare difficulties (Hsu et al., 2009; Lin, Lin, Yen, Loh, & Chwo, 2009; Loh et al., 2007), and need more medical or preventive health care than the general population to maintain or improve their health (Lin, Yen, & Wu, 2005; Lin, Loh, Choi, et al., 2007; Lin, Loh, Hsu, & Yen, 2007; Lin, Loh, Yen, et al., 2007; Lin, Hung, Lin, & Research in Developmental Disabilities 33 (2012) 704–710 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 7 November 2011 Received in revised form 18 November 2011 Accepted 18 November 2011 Available online 20 December 2011 Keywords: Influenza Vaccine Intellectual disability Health policy Preventive care A B S T R A C T The aim of the present study was to describe the seasonal influenza vaccination rate and to examine its determinants for children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) living in the community. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to analyze the data on seasonal influenza vaccination rate among 1055 ID individuals between the ages of 12–18 years. The results found that 22.9% of the study participants used the vaccine during the past three years, and the vaccination rate among different age groups varied from 18.1 to 26.5%. There was no gender difference of seasonal influenza vaccination rate among age groups. Multilevel logistic regression analysis revealed that ID individuals with moderate (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.08–2.34) or severe (OR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.20–4.45) disability, with an illness (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.02–2.63), who have general health exams (ever used, OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.03–2.40; regularly used, OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.05–3.41) were more likely to have seasonal influenza vaccination than their counterparts. The present study highlights that the substantial disparity in receipt of seasonal influenza vaccine in children and adolescents with ID reflects the effects of disability level, disease condition, and general health exam experience and suggests the need for greater attention to factors affecting ID individuals to improve their preventive health care. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, No. 161, Min-Chun East Road, Section 6, Nei-Hu, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 87923100x18447; fax: +886 2 87923147. E-mail address: a530706@ndmctsgh.edu.tw (J.-D. Lin). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.11.011