(HealthDay)—From 2008 to 2018, there was an increase in shingles vaccination among adults aged 60 years and older, with demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic variations in vaccination rates, according to a July data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Emily P. Terlizzi, M.P.H., and Lindsey I. Black, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, present trends in shingles vaccination and variation in demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics among adults aged 60 years and older.

The researchers found that from 2008 to 2018, there was an increase in shingles vaccination from 6.7 to 34.5 percent among adults aged 60 years and over. Women were equally as likely as men to have ever received a shingles vaccine in 2018 (35.4 versus 33.5 percent). Non-Hispanic white adults were more likely than non-Hispanic black and Hispanic adults to have ever received a shingles vaccine (38.6 percent versus 18.8 and 19.5 percent, respectively). Those who were not poor and those who had more than a high school education had highest vaccination coverage. There was geographic variation in the percentage of adults aged 60 years and older who ever had a shingles vaccination, from 26.3 to 42.8 percent in the East South Central region and West North Central regions, respectively.

"This report's findings are consistent with previous research regarding disparities in shingles vaccination by demographic and geographic characteristics," the authors write.

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