Distribution of Flu Vaccinations by Age

1. Introduction Methodology Results The CDC recommends that all people older than 6 months should be vaccinated annually. However, there is constant controversy over the helpfulness of vaccines compared to the risks involved. The CDC warns that vaccinations may cause some minor side effects such as soreness, redness, or swelling. There have also been rare cases of severe inflammation and death, such as one LDS missionary who died of cerebral inflammation after receiving a standard influenza vaccine. Our experiment was designed to find out if there was a significant difference between the portion of the older population who opted to receive the 2013 influenza shot and the portion of the younger population who wanted the 2013 influenza shot. Summary Statistics: Data were collected from a single Target store from October 4 to November 5 by inquiring of the age of customers who purchased the 2013 flu shot. The age distribution of customers was compared to the age distribution of Utah population according to 2012 census data using a Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit test FH0 : p0-5yrs =0.09, p6-18yrs=0.221, p65+yrs=0.095 H1 : any of these proportions are different The null hypothesis is that the age distribution of those who were vaccinated is the same as the age distribution of the population . Distribution of Flu Vaccinations by Age Bryan Gustafson Arian Payne Conclusion Abstract Our data show that there is no significant difference between the age distributions of the general population and the age distribution of our sample. However, we were not able to gather enough information or data to make any conclusions about the lower number of vaccinations for the 15-35 age group. From this it can be said that any reservations that people may have about receiving vaccinations, or more specifically, flu shots, are not correlated with age. For over two centuries, vaccines have been used to some degree as a preventative measure for disease. However, there has always been controversy around the helpfulness and risks of vaccines. While the CDC does admit there are side effects of vaccinations, it is recommended that everybody older than 6 months is vaccinated against influenza annually. In our experiment, we set out to see if there was a considerable difference in the number of older people (age 65 and above) who opted for the 2013 influenza vaccine as compared to the younger population who opted for the same vaccine. Data were collected from a single Target pharmacy for the period of on month. Because there are no existing data about the age distribution of people vaccinated, we compared our data to the existing 2012 census data of the age distribution of the Utah population. Using a Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit test, we found that there is no significant difference between the age distribution of the general population and the age distribution of people who bought flu shots. It can be seen from the histogram above that the age distribution is skewed right, as is expected because the number of living persons decreases as age increases. Both the histogram and the boxplot show one outlier of age 97. The histogram also shows a decrease in the number of people vaccinated between the ages of 15 and 35. This ‘drop’ in the graph cannot be explained by our Goodness-of-Fit test because the ages of 18 to 65 are binned together. Sources Sources Shown above on the left are the observed and expected age proportions. The expected proportions are equal to the age proportions of Utah obtained in 2012. On the right are the results for the Goodness-of-Fit test, showing a P-value of 0.9927, meaning there is insufficient evidence within these data to reject the null hypothesis. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57169475-78/webb-flu-son-effects.html.csp http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm All information was retrieved on November 22, 2013