Herpes Zoster Knowledge, Prevalence, and Vaccination Rate by Race

Article Figures & Data

Table 1. Participant Demographics (N = 403)

Mean age, years^*	72.8
Sex
Men	132 (33)
Women	271 (67)
Race
African American	198 (49)
White	191 (47)
Asian	4 (1)
Hispanic	4 (1)
American Indian	3 (0.7)
Other	1 (0.2)
Mean education^†	11th grade
Patient enrollment sites at East Carolina University
Internal medicine clinic	134 (33)
Family medicine clinic	133 (33)
Geriatric clinic	134 (33)

Table 2. Self-Reported Prevalence of Herpes Zoster, Witnessing Others With Zoster, Awareness of Vaccine, and Vaccination Rate by Race^*

	White (n = 191)	African Americans (n = 198)	Odds Ratio (95% CI)	P
Reported having had shingles	32 (17)	16 (8)	2.3 (1.2 to 4.3)	.013
Had seen someone with shingles	138 (72)	70 (35)	4.8 (3.1 to 7.3)	<.001
Aware that the zoster vaccine is recommended	81 (42)	32 (16)	3.8 (2.4–6.1)	<.001
Had received zoster vaccine	26 (14)	4 (2)	7.6 (2.6–22.3)	<.001

Values provided as n (%) unless otherwise indicated.
↵* Data for only whites and African Americans are included here because of the small samples of other races.

Table 3. Factors Associated With Herpes Zoster Vaccination

	All(N = 403)	HZ Vaccination(n = 31)	No HZ Vaccination(n = 372)	Odds Ratio(95% CI)
Age (years)	72.8	74.4 ± 9.3	72.6 ± 8.9
60–64	89 (22.1)	5 (16.1)	84 (22.5)	1.0^*
≥65	312 (77.4)	26 (83.8)	286 (76.8)	1.53 (0.57–4.1)
Race, n (%)
African American	198 (49)	4 (2)	194 (98)	1.0^*
White	191 (47)	26 (14)	165 (86)	3.4 (1.03–11.1)^†
Education (years)	11 ± 3.2	13.7 ± 3.0	11 ± 3.2
<12	160 (39.7)	3 (2)	157 (98)	1.0^*
≥12	215 (53.3)	23 (11)	192 (89)	4.6 (1.3–6.2)^†
Race and education interaction
AAs with <high school	104 (25.8)	2 (2)	102 (98)	1.0^*
Whites with ≥high school	118 (29.2)	20 (16.9)	98 (83)	6.7 (1.4–31.0)^†
History of shingles	48 (11.9)	4 (12.9)	44 (11.8)	1.1 (0.37–3.27)
Witnessed someone with shingles	212 (53)	25 (81)^*	187 (51)	4.1 (1.6–10.2)^†
Received influenza vaccine in the past	357 (89)	30 (97)	327 (88)	4.1 (0.55–31.0)
Clinic Site
Internal medicine clinic	134 (33)	13 (42)	121 (33)	1.0^*
Family medicine clinic	133 (33)	6 (19)	127 (34)	0.44 (0.16–1.19)
Geriatric clinic	134 (33)	12 (39)	122 (33)	0.92 (0.4–2.1)

Values provided as n (%). Values may not add to 100 percent due to some subjects declining to answer some parts of the survey.
↵* Reference group for comparison.
↵† Multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for effects of age, sex, race, education, and having seen someone with shingles.
HZ = Herpes Zoster; AAs = African Americans.

Table 4. Factors Impacting Decisions For or Against Receiving the Herpes Zoster (HZ) Vaccine

Reasons cited for getting the HZ vaccine (n = 31)
Recommended by health care provider	15 (48)
Recommended by media/ads	10 (32)
Recommended by friends	6 (19)
Recommended by family	5 (16)
Other	3 (10)
Reasons cited for not getting the HZ vaccine (n = 370)
Have not heard about it	258 (70)
Do not think I will develop shingles	42 (11)
Physician did not recommend it	40 (11)
Afraid of the side effects	29 (8)
Financial reasons	15 (4)
Do not believe in vaccines in general	14 (4)
Have a weak immune system and cannot receive live virus vaccines	5 (1)
Allergic to the zoster vaccine	4 (1)
Do not think shingles will cause significant or lasting illness	3 (0.8)
Do not think the vaccine works	2 (0.5)
Someone told me not to get the vaccine	0