Accuracy of adult reported pneumococcal vaccination status of children

PURPOSE: A pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was licensed in 2000 for use in children. To evaluate the accuracy of an adult's recall of children's vaccination status with the pneumococcal vaccine, the authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of adults in Philadelphia County from January to December 2003. METHODS: Subjects were identified by random digit dialing and interviewed regarding the age and vaccination status of all children 6 years old or younger with whom they had significant contact. The gold standard for determining the accuracy of vaccine status reports was the Kids Immunization Database/ Tracking System (KIDS) at the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-two interviews were completed with vaccination data collected on 185 children. One hundred sixty-six children (90%) were matched with records in the KIDS registry. The sensitivity and specificity of adult reported child vaccine status were 0.65 (95% CI, 0.55, 0.74) and 0.47 (95% CI, 0.34, 0.61), respectively. Agreement between adult report and the KIDS registry was 59%. Significant variation in agreement was not found to be related to demographic characteristics of the adult subjects. CONCLUSION: Adult report of the pneumococcal vaccination status of children was found to be relatively inaccurate and did not vary by known demographic characteristics. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.