Sociodemographic and health‐related determinants of seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnancy: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the evidence since 2000

Introduction Vaccination is considered to be the most practical and effective preventative measure against influenza. It is highly recommended for population subgroups most at risk of developing complications, including pregnant women. However, seasonal influenza vaccine uptake remains suboptimal among pregnant women, even in jurisdictions with universal vaccination. We summarized the evidence on the determinants of seasonal influenza vaccine uptake during pregnancy to better understand factors that influence vaccine uptake among pregnant women. Material and methods We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL from January 2000 to February 2020 for publications in English reporting on sociodemographic and/or health‐related determinants of seasonal influenza vaccine uptake during pregnancy. Two reviewers independently included studies. One reviewer extracted data and assessed study quality, and another reviewer checked extracted data and study quality assessments for errors. Disagreements were resolved through consensus, or a third reviewer. We meta‐analyzed using the inverse variance, random‐effects method, and reported the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results From 1663 retrieved citations, we included 36 studies. The following factors were associated with increased seasonal influenza vaccine uptake: Older age (20 studies: OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07‐1.20), being nulliparous (13 studies: OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.15‐1.38), married (8 studies: OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.07‐1.15), employed (4 studies: OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02‐1.24), a non‐smoker (8 studies: OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.04‐1.51) and having prenatal care (3 studies: OR 3.36, 95% CI 2.25‐5.02), a chronic condition (6 studies: OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.17‐1.44), been previously vaccinated (9 studies: OR 4.88, 95% CI 3.14‐7.57) and living in a rural area (9 studies: OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.05‐1.14). Compared with being black, being white was also associated with increased seasonal influenza vaccine uptake (11 studies: OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.20‐1.41). Conclusions The evidence suggests that several sociodemographic and health‐related factors may determine seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnancy, and that parity, history of influenza vaccination, prenatal care and comorbidity status may be influential.