Factors Associated with Immunization Opinion Leadership among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles, California

Authors

Ian W. Holloway, University of California, Los AngelesFollow
Robert Bednarczyk, Emory UniversityFollow
Vincent L. Fenimore, Emory UniversityFollow
Cameron Goldbeck, University of California, Los Angeles
Elizabeth Wu, University of California, Los AngelesFollow
Rebecca Himmelstein, University of California, Los AngelesFollow
Diane Tan, University of California, Los AngelesFollow
Laura Randall, Emory UniversityFollow
Chelsea S. Lutz, Emory UniversityFollow
Paula M. Frew, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-8-2018

Publication Title

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Publisher

MDPI

Volume

15

Issue

5

First page number:

1

Last page number:

12

Abstract

We sought to identify the characteristics of men who have sex with men (MSM) who are opinion leaders on immunization issues and to identify potential opportunities to leverage their influence for vaccine promotion within MSM communities. Using venue-based sampling, we recruited and enrolled MSM living in Los Angeles (N = 520) from December 2016 to February 2017 and evaluated characteristic differences in sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors, and technology use among those classified as opinion leaders versus those who were not. We also asked respondents about their past receipt of meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY) and meningococcal B (MenB) vaccines, as well as their opinions on the importance of 13 additional vaccines. Multivariable results revealed that non-Hispanic black (aOR = 2.64; 95% CI: 1.17–5.95) and other race/ethnicity (aOR = 2.98; 95% CI: 1.41–6.29) respondents, as well as those with a history of an STI other than HIV (aOR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.10–3.48), were more likely to be opinion leaders. MenACWY (aOR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.13–3.25) and MenB (aOR = 3.09; 95% CI: 1.77–5.41) vaccine uptake, and perceived importance for these and seven additional vaccines, were also associated with being an opinion leader. The results suggest that the co-promotion of vaccination and other health promotion initiatives via opinion leaders could be a useful strategy for increasing vaccination among MSM.

Keywords

Opinion leadership; MSM; Peer health navigation; Vaccine measurement; Immunization acceptance; Immunization assessment; Vaccine promotion

Disciplines

Community Health and Preventive Medicine

File Format

pdf

File Size

312 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Repository Citation

Holloway, I. W., Bednarczyk, R., Fenimore, V. L., Goldbeck, C., Wu, E., Himmelstein, R., Tan, D., Randall, L., Lutz, C. S., Frew, P. M. (2018). Factors Associated with Immunization Opinion Leadership among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles, California. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(5), 1-12. MDPI.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050939