Adherence to Adult Vaccination After Family Physician Recommendation: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study in Primary Care

Objective: To determine adherence to family physician-recommended adult vaccines in primary care and whether it differed by sex, age, or the type and number of vaccines. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included adults recommended one or more risk-based vaccines at 2 family medicine units in Güngören, İstanbul, Türkiye, between June and August 2022. Tetanus vaccination for trauma or pregnancy and COVID-19 vaccination were excluded. Data were obtained from the Family Medicine Information System; doses recorded after the recommendation were counted up to data extraction in July-August 2023. Adherence was classified as full (at least 1 dose of every recommended vaccine), partial, or no recorded uptake. Chi-square tests and exploratory Firth logistic regression were used. Results: The 152 patients had a mean age of 58.7 years; 57.2% were women. Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) was recommended to 67.8% of patients, 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) to 61.8%, 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) to 26.3%, hepatitis B to 13.8%, and other vaccines to 2.0%. Administration rates were 79.6% for Td, 85.1% for PCV13, 85.0% for PPSV23, and 76.2% for hepatitis B. Overall, 120 patients (78.9%; 95% CI, 71.8%-84.7%) were fully adherent, 6 (3.9%) partially adherent, and 26 (17.1%) had no recorded uptake. No significant differences were detected by sex, age group, or number of vaccines. Conclusion: At least 1 dose of every recommended vaccine was recorded for most adults recommended risk-based vaccines by their family physician. Without a comparison group, these findings describe uptake after a recommendation, not the effect of the recommendation.