Does pulmonary subspecialty referral from primary care affect the adherence to vaccination recommendations in COPD patients?

Abstract

Abstract The importance of vaccinations for COPD patients has been previously described. However, there is still a gap between guideline recommendations and the implementation of preventive care delivery for these patients. Specially, the rise of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has made the significance of vaccination adherence more critical to address. Our study showed that referral to pulmonary clinic is associated with increased odds of receiving influenza (OR = 1.97, [95% CI 1.07, 3.65]) and pneumococcal vaccinations (PCV13 OR = 3.55, [1.47, 8.54]; PPSV23 OR = 4.92, [1.51, 16.02]). These data suggest that partnerships between primary care physicians and pulmonologists can potentially improve the vaccination rates for patients with COPD.

Keywords

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Vaccination
• Influenza
• Pneumococcal vaccine
• Referral