%0 Journal Article
%@ 2369-2960
%I JMIR Publications
%V 9
%N 
%P e34163
%T Demographic Determinants and Geographical Variability of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Underserved Communities: Cross-sectional Study
%A Matas,Jennifer L
%A Landry,Latrice G
%A Lee,LaTasha
%A Hansel,Shantoy
%A Coudray,Makella S
%A Mata-McMurry,Lina V
%A Chalasani,Nishanth
%A Xu,Liou
%A Stair,Taylor
%A Edwards,Christina
%A Puckrein,Gary
%A Meyer,William
%A Wiltz,Gary
%A Sampson,Marian
%A Gregerson,Paul
%A Barron,Charles
%A Marable,Jeffrey
%A Akinboboye,Olakunle
%A Il'yasova,Dora
%+ National Minority Quality Forum, 1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 340, Washington, DC, 20005, United States, 1 202 223 7560 ext 175, dilyasova@nmqf.org
%K COVID-19 vaccine
%K vaccine hesitancy
%K underrepresented in research
%K minority populations
%K federally qualified health center (FQHC)
%K public health
%K COVID-19
%D 2023
%7 27.4.2023
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Public Health Surveill
%G English
%X Background: COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths disproportionately affect underserved and minority populations, emphasizing that vaccine hesitancy can be an especially important public health risk factor in these populations. Objective: This study aims to characterize COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in underserved diverse populations. Methods: The Minority and Rural Coronavirus Insights Study (MRCIS) recruited a convenience sample of adults (age≥18, N=3735) from federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in California, the Midwest (Illinois/Ohio), Florida, and Louisiana and collected baseline data in November 2020-April 2021. Vaccine hesitancy status was defined as a response of “no” or “undecided” to the question “Would you get a coronavirus vaccine if it was available?” (“yes” categorized as not hesitant). Cross-sectional descriptive analyses and logistic regression models examined vaccine hesitancy prevalence by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and geography. The expected vaccine hesitancy estimates for the general population were calculated for the study counties using published county-level data. Crude associations with demographic characteristics within each region were assessed using the chi-square test. The main effect model included age, gender, race/ethnicity, and geographical region to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs. Interactions between geography and each demographic characteristic were evaluated in separate models. Results: The strongest vaccine hesitancy variability was by geographic region: California, 27.8% (range 25.0%-30.6%); the Midwest, 31.4% (range 27.3%-35.4%); Louisiana, 59.1% (range 56.1%-62.1%); and Florida, 67.3% (range 64.3%-70.2%). The expected estimates for the general population were lower: 9.7% (California), 15.3% (Midwest), 18.2% (Florida), and 27.0% (Louisiana). The demographic patterns also varied by geography. An inverted U-shaped age pattern was found, with the highest prevalence among ages 25-34 years in Florida (n=88, 80.0%,) and Louisiana (n=54, 79.4%; P<.05). Females were more hesitant than males in the Midwest (n= 110, 36.4% vs n= 48, 23.5%), Florida (n=458, 71.6% vs n=195, 59.3%), and Louisiana (n= 425, 66.5% vs. n=172, 46.5%; P<.05). Racial/ethnic differences were found in California, with the highest prevalence among non-Hispanic Black participants (n=86, 45.5%), and in Florida, with the highest among Hispanic (n=567, 69.3%) participants (P<.05), but not in the Midwest and Louisiana. The main effect model confirmed the U-shaped association with age: strongest association with age 25-34 years (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.74-3.01). Statistical interactions of gender and race/ethnicity with the region were significant, following the pattern found by the crude analysis. Compared to males in California, the associations with the female gender were strongest in Florida (OR=7.88, 95% CI 5.96-10.41) and Louisiana (OR=6.09, 95% CI 4.55-8.14). Compared to non-Hispanic White participants in California, the strongest associations were found with being Hispanic in Florida (OR=11.18, 95% CI 7.01-17.85) and Black in Louisiana (OR=8.94, 95% CI 5.53-14.47). However, the strongest race/ethnicity variability was observed within California and Florida: the ORs varied 4.6- and 2-fold between racial/ethnic groups in these regions, respectively. Conclusions: These findings highlight the role of local contextual factors in driving vaccine hesitancy and its demographic patterns. 
%M 36811869
%R 10.2196/34163
%U https://publichealth.jmir.org/2023/1/e34163
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/34163
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36811869