Religious affiliation and flu vaccination in Germany: Results of the German Ageing Survey

Abstract

Our aim was to examine the association between religious affiliation and the likelihood of taking the flu vaccine. Cross-sectional data (year 2014 with n = 7172) were used from the nationally representative German Ageing Survey - covering community-dwelling individuals aged 40 years and over. Multiple logistic regressions showed that compared with individuals without a religious affiliation, individuals with certain religious affiliations had a lower likelihood of taking the flu vaccine. More precisely, the likelihood of taking a flu shot was significantly associated with belonging to the Roman Catholic Church (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.44-0.57), the Protestant Church (OR: 0.68, 0.60-0.77), the Evangelic Free Church (OR: 0.54, 0.35-0.82) and other religious communities (OR: 0.25, 0.14-0.45). This knowledge could help to improve the immunization coverage by addressing individuals with certain religious affiliations.