KEYWORD1:
surveys, immunization registry

BACKGROUND:
The National Immunization Survey (NIS) and the Immunization Registry Annual Report (IRAR) measure the percentage of children whose vaccination records are reported to immunization registries.

OBJECTIVE:
Describe child participation in immunization registries and evaluate the concordance for child participation measures between two national surveys.

METHOD:
CDC analyzed 2001 data from the NIS and the IRAR. The NIS is a random-digit-dialing survey that collects vaccination coverage information on children aged 19-35 months and uses health provider data to validate vaccination information. The IRAR has self-reported data from immunization program managers regarding registry progress. IRAR child participation estimates were calculated for children aged 19-35 months. NIS child participation estimates were calculated using SUDAAN 7.5. SAS 8.0 compared NIS and IRAR child participation estimates for concordance.

RESULT:
36% of NIS children (95% CI=35.1%-37.0%) had at least one provider report their vaccination records to a community or state immunization registry. The IRAR measured that 41% of children aged 19-35 months had 2 or more immunizations in a registry. Among NIS children who visited only public providers, 68% (95% CI=65.5%-70.5%) had at least one provider report their vaccination record to a registry compared to 29% (95% CI=27.7%-30.0%) of children with only private providers. Concordance testing of child participation estimates found that the estimates from the two surveys were not equal at the state-level.

CONCLUSION:
The two surveys measure child participation in the same age groups; child participation estimates at the national level are similar, but not at the state-level.
LEARNINGOBJECTIVES:
Identify methodologies to measure child participation in registries.