Description
For sample adults and sample children who had a flu shot in the past 12 months (SHOTFLUYR), SHOTFLUAGOYR reports the year of the most recent flu shot. Interviewers asked, "During what month and year did [you/sample child] receive [your/his/her] most recent flu shot?" SHOTFLUAGOYR reports the calendar year of the most recent flu shot. The complementary variable SHOTFLUYRMO reports the month of the most recent flu shot.
Purpose of Question
One rationale for asking about the date of the most recent flu shot was to check whether respondents used the appropriate reference period in their responses to SHOTFLUYR.
According to the Field Representative's Manual for 2005 forward, if a respondent gave a date prior to 12 months ago for their most recent flu shot, the interviewer was prompted to verify if the date given was correct. If the respondent confirmed that the date was prior to 12 months ago, the interviewer was to change the respondent's answer from "yes" to "no" for SHOTFLUYR (and the individual became defined as "not in universe" for SHOTFLUAGOYR and SHOTFLUYRMO). Also, as the 2005 Manual put it, "This helps determine [whether the reported flu shot was] for this flu season or last year."
For SHOTFLUAGOYR, the public use files show only responses relating to very recent years (i.e., 2004 or later).
This information was collected only for people who had a flu shot in the past 12 months, not for those whose most recent flu shot was in the more distant past. SHOTFLUAGOYR is thus not suitable for calculating the average amount of time since last flu shot for the general population. Rather, the questions about flu vaccination are intended to address issues in the immediate past. Thus, the 2005 Manual states, "The Flu shot questions are a major concern this year because of the shortages in the fall of 2004." Similarly, the Manuals for 2006 forward mention the importance of the flu shot questions due to "shortages" and "delays in the vaccines to health care providers."
Along with collecting information about the flu shot, the survey collected information on whether sample adults and sample children had the nasal flu spray vaccine in the past year (SPRAYFLUYR) and, if so, the month and year of their most recent nasal flu spray (SPRAYFLUYRMO and SPRAFLUAGOYR).
Comparability
SHOTFLUAGOYR consistently indicates whether the flu shot was received during the calendar year of the survey, or during an adjacent calendar year. Because the calendar year of the survey changes over time, so too do the values for SHOTFLUAGOYR (e.g., beginning with 2004 for the 2005 survey, beginning with 2005 for the 2006 survey).
While the question wording for SHOTFLUAGOYR was essentially the same across time, the related variable SHOTFLUYR was affected by both changes in influenza vaccination procedures and changes in question wording (such as a directive to exclude the H1NI or swine flu vaccination in 2009). See the variable description for SHOTFLUYR for further details.
Universe
- 2005-2010: Sample adults age 18+ and sample children under age 18 who have had a flu shot in the past 12 months.
Codes and Frequencies
Availability
- 2005-2010
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Weights
- 2005-2010 : SAMPWEIGHT
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