Immunising older Australians: Pre-COVID-19 associations of opportunistic immunisation in general practice registrar consultations.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vaccine uptake in older Australians is suboptimal. This exploratory study aims to establish the associations of opportunistic older person immunisation in general practice registrars' practice. METHOD: This study was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) study. Univariate and multivariable regressions explored associations between vaccine recommendations and patient, registrar, practice and consultation factors. RESULTS: A total of 2839 registrars provided data on 74,436 consultations. Associations of lower odds of immunisation included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (odds ratio [OR] 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.50, 0.96), rural/remote practice location (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.58, 0.98, compared with major cities) and in areas of greater relative socioeconomic disadvantage (OR per decile 1.03; 95% CI 1.01, 1.05). Patients new to the practice (OR 2.46; 95% CI 2.06, 2.94), or to the registrar (2.02; 95% CI 1.87, 2.18) had higher odds of receiving an immunisation. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that general practice registrars may be proactively facilitating immunisation in new patients, but that inequities in vaccination persist.