Article ID: JJID.2022.614
In 2019, the Japanese government set up a scheme for rubella antibody testing during workplace health check-ups for men born between fiscal years 1962 and 1978. However, use of vouchers for rubella antibody testing remains low. Health check-up data analyses are needed to determine the reason rubella antibody testing is not widely used. In this research, we aimed to clarify how rubella antibody test-taking behaviour during health check-ups has changed over the first 3 years of the rubella catch-up campaign in Japan. The vouchers were sent in 2019, 2020, and 2021 (2020 in some areas) to men born in fiscal years 1972–1978, 1966–1971, and 1962–1965, respectively. We calculated the prevalence of men born between 1962 and 1978 having received rubella antibody testing during mandatory health check-ups under the Industrial Health and Safety Act. It was relatively high (approximately 15%) soon after the distribution of vouchers in all three age groups, and then declined to below 2% over the second and third years. A further population approach with continuous public engagement is required in workplaces to effectively promote and expand the rubella vaccination program in Japan.
