Clinical trial NCT01455753: The Effect of Proximity on Flu-Shot Participation
Official title: The Effect of Proximity on Flu-Shot Participation
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Influenza
Human
Keywords: Influenza
Proximity
Lead sponsor: National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
First posted: 2011-10-20
Enrollment: 1801
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Employees at the headquarters of a health benefits administrator in the US. These employees are generally not health care personnel. All of them have health insurance.

Of HQ employees, 520 are housed in Building 1 (the site of the vaccination clinic) and 1,281 are housed in Building 2. The two buildings are 131 meters apart and connected by an enclosed passageway. The clinic was located near the cafeteria in Building 1 and adjacent to the passageway connecting the two buildings.

Brief summary: Using desk location information and employees' building entry/exit swipe card data from a company that offered a free 2-day worksite influenza vaccination clinic, we separately identify the vaccination effects of base proximity-the inverse of walking distance between one's desk and the clinic-and functional proximity-the likelihood of passing near the clinic during the course of a normal work day (ie, days when the clinic is not open).

Detailed description: We study the 2011 influenza vaccine uptake of employees at the headquarters of a health benefits administrator in the United States. These employees are generally not health care personnel. All of them have health insurance. Of the company's total workforce (including those not based at the headquarters), 26% are African Americans and 37% are racial minorities.

There are 2 main buildings at the company headquarters. Building One houses 520 employees and is the site of the vaccination clinic; Building Two houses 1281 employees. The 2 buildings are 131 meters apart and connected by an enclosed passageway. The clinic was located near the cafeteria in Building One and adjacent to the passageway connecting the 2 buildings. The clinic was conducted from October 19 to 20, 2011, and it was advertised during the 3 weeks prior.

The company requires employees to swipe a personalized electronic badge to open the external doors of its buildings, which include the doors to the passageway between the buildings. The company provided us data on the date and time of each swipe in September and October 2011. If an employee swipes her badge and holds the door open for another employee, we do not observe that other employee. The badge swipe data are therefore an incomplete measure of all movements between the buildings. The company also gave us data on employee characteristics and vaccination uptake, scaled architectural plans of the buildings, and employee desk maps.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Employee of Express Scripts.
* Eligible to receive a flu shot at Express Scripts.
* Over 18 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Children
* Non Express Scripts employees

Primary outcomes:
measure: Receipt of influenza vaccine
timeFrame: One week
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Absenteeism
timeFrame: The investigators will follow employees' absenteeism for five to six months
measure: Demographic characteristics on flu shot participation
timeFrame: Up to 3 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Saint Louis
country: United States
facility: Express Scripts
state: Missouri
Study officials:
affiliation: National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard University
name: David I Laibson, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Beshears J, Choi JJ, Laibson DI, Madrian BC, Reynolds GI. Vaccination Rates are Associated With Functional Proximity But Not Base Proximity of Vaccination Clinics. Med Care. 2016 Jun;54(6):578-83. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000523.